Dual Credit Programs Exploring Dual Credit Student Transition and Post-Secondary Academic Success Prepared for BCCAT by Cindy Drover-Davidson, Kelly Betts, Michael Bennett and Dan Hodgson May 2017 Research by Dual Credit Programs Exploring Dual Credit Student Transition and Post-Secondary Academic Success Prepared for BCCAT by Cindy Drover-Davidson, Kelly Betts, Michael Bennett and Dan Hodgson May 2017 ©Copyright2017bytheBritishColumbiaCouncilonAdmissionsandTransfer. BCCATistheofficialmarkoftheBCCouncilonAdmissionsandTransfer, aspublishedbytheRegistrarofTrade-marksoftheCanadianIntellectualPropertyOffice. Thisreportisalsoavailableatbccat.ca/pubs/dualcredit_may2017.pdf BC COUNCIL ON ADMISSIONS & TRANSFER Research by 709 – 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver BC Canada V6B 3H6 bccat.ca | educationplannerbc.ca | bctransferguide.ca t 6044127700 | f 6046830576 | [email protected] Acknowledgements This research project was commissioned and funded by the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) in December 2015, shortly before Camosun College closed for the winter break. With renewed zeal, buoyed by the few days off, work on the project began in earnest in the first week of January, 2016. A research team of four individuals from Camosun College was soon assembled, composed of the Associate Director of the South Island Part- nership (SIP) at Camosun College, Kelly Betts; Director of Institutional Research, Dan Hodgson; Data Analyst Michael Bennett, from Institutional Research; and primary researcher and writer, SIP Program Assistant, Cindy Drover-David- son. This report owes a debt of gratitude not only to the dedication of the research team, but also to the Research Depart- ments at the Industry Training Authority of British Columbia, the BC Ministry of Education, and the BC Student Transi- tions Project, and to BCCAT. Special thanks also to coworkers and spouses who supported the work of the team. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... vi Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Definitions .................................................................................................................... 1 Research Questions and Methodology ........................................................................3 Case Study - The South Island Partnership ...................................................................4 Student Enrolment and Registration ............................................................................6 Completion and Achievement of Dual Credit Students ..............................................11 Retention .................................................................................................................... 12 Transition .................................................................................................................... 17 ITA Transition Data ......................................................................................................17 STP Transition Data .....................................................................................................19 Opportunities for Similar Studies in the Province ......................................................21 Study Challenges ........................................................................................................22 Future Research Suggestions ......................................................................................22 Conclusions ................................................................................................................23 References .................................................................................................................. 24 Appendix 1: BC Ministry of Education Policies on Dual Credit ...................................25 Appendix 2: Data Request Agreements ......................................................................27 Appendix 3: Dual Credit Delivery Models ...................................................................29 DUAL CREDIT This study examined the transition and post-secondary achievement of the dual PROGRAMS: credit (DC) students in the South Island Partnership (SIP); a partnership of Camosun Exploring Dual Credit Student College and five school districts located in Transition and Post-Secondary the south of Vancouver Island, BC. Academic Success Executive Summary Thisstudyexaminedthetransitionandpost-secondary Around60%ofDCstudentstransitionedtofurther achievementofthedualcredit(DC)studentsinthe post-secondarystudiesatCamosunandotherinstitu- SouthIslandPartnership(SIP).TheSIPisapartnership tionsaftercompletingtheirDCcoursesandprograms. ofCamosunCollegeandfiveschooldistrictslocatedin Ofthosepost-DCstudentswhotransitionedtopost- theSouthofVancouverIsland,BC.TheSIPDCoptionsin- secondary,62%tookfurtherpost-secondarystudyat cludeTradesprograms,Tradesexplorationcourses,and CamosunCollege.Thissuggestshighretentionrates coursesinArtsandSciences.ThisstudyexploredSIPDC post-DCattheoriginatinginstitution.Anotherfind- studentenrolment,achievement,andtransitionoverten ingthatcouldbehelpfulforenrolmentmanagement academicyearsfrom2005to2015.Theanalysisofstu- planningwasthatDCstudentstypicallytransitionedto denttransitionswithinandbeyondtheSIPwaspossible thesamepost-secondaryareasofstudythattheywere throughtheuseoffourdatasets:SIPdata,Camosun involvedinfortheirDCprogram.Forexample,86%of Collegedata,StudentTransitionsProject(STP)mobility AutomotivestudentswhoreturnedtoCamosunpartici- data,andIndustryTrainingAuthority(ITA)numbersof patedinfurtherTradeseducation. studentenrolmentandachievement. Thereportconcludeswithanumberofconsiderations Duringthetenyearperiod,3,583secondarystudents fordoingsimilarstudiesatotherinstitutionsinthe participatedintheSIPDCoptions.TheSIPgrewsig- province.Opportunitiesforsuchstudiesincludethedata nificantlyovertenyears:from80studentsinthree availablethroughprovincialdatabasestotrackstudent programsin2003,toabout1,000studentsinoverforty transitionsbeyondasinglepost-secondaryinstitution. differentprogramandcourseareasinthe2014-2015 Challengesincludetheamountoftimeandresources academicyear.Themajorityofstudents–88%ofnon- toobtainthenecessarydata,aswellasthedifficultyto Tradesstudents,and68%ofTradesstudents–hadpass- matchSTPandITAdata.Furtherresearchonthesuccess inggradesintheirDCprograms/courses,indicatinghigh ofDCstudentscouldfocusonstudentperformanceby levelsofstudentsuccess.Around50%ofDCstudents program/disciplineordeliverymodel,aswellasDCstu- earnedcredentialsduringthestudyperiod,themajority dents’experiencesandperceptionsoftheirDCprogram ofwhichwerecertificates(73%ofallcredentials). andfuturepathways. Introduction “Dual Credit” (DC) refers to post-secondary programs or courses offered to secondary InaccordwiththepoliciesestablishedbytheBrit- students while they are still in high school. ishColumbiaMinistryofEducation(Appendix1),BC SchoolDistrictsparticipateinpartnershipsandcollab- DC students are both secondary and post- orationswithrecognizedpost-secondaryinstitutions secndary students simultaneously, and they inthedevelopmentofDualCredit(DC)educational opportunitiesforsecondarystudents.Thispaperof- earn credits toward high school graduation fersaquantitativeanalysisofDCstudents’transition as well as post-secondary credits. topost-secondaryintermsof:1)studentregistration andenrolment,2)completion,3)achievement,4) retention,and5)transitionratesfromhighschoolto programsorcoursesofferedtosecondarystudentswhile post-secondaryeducation.Thesepointsareillustrated theyarestillinhighschool.DualCreditstudentsare byacasestudyoftheDCopportunitiesofferedbythe bothsecondaryandpost-secondarystudentssimultane- SouthIslandPartnership(SIP)atCamosunCollegein ously,andtheyearncreditstowardhighschoolgradua- Victoria,BC.Thisstudytracesstudentprogressionfrom tionaswellaspost-secondarycredits,manyofwhichare thefirstSIPDualCreditcourseorprogramthrough transferrablebetweenBCpost-secondaryinstitutions. continuingeducationalexperiencesbothatCamosun AsmallnumberofSIPcoursesorprogramsarespecific Collegeandotherpost-secondaryinstitutionsinBritish toCamosunCollegeanddonottransfertootherpost- Columbia. secondaryinstitutions.Studentswhocompletethese coursesorprogramsearncreditatCamosun. Definitions How is Dual Credit Funded? CamosunCollegetuitioncostsforaDCstudentarepaid Beforediscussingtheparametersofthisstudy,some bythestudent’sschooldistrict,whosefundingisprovid- definitionsarekeytounderstandingthecontextinwhich edbytheBCMinistryofEducation.DualCreditstudents DualCreditoperates.Theseareexplainedbelow. areexemptfromCamosunStudentSocietyancillaryfees butareresponsibleforpayingtheapplicationfeeaswell What is Dual Credit? asthecostsfortextbooks,supplies,orpersonalsafety AlthoughmanyinstitutionsthroughoutNorthAmerica equipment. havevaryingdefinitionsforDualCredit,1throughoutthis paper,wedefineDCopportunitiesaspost-secondary 1 Someinstitutionshavesimilar-soundingbutslightlydifferentdefinitionsofandimplicationsforDualCredit, and/orusedifferentwordingtodescribetheirprocesses,suchas Dual Enrolment, Concurrent Admission, Accelerated Entry, School-Within-College,andotherterminology(FitzGibbon,2015,p.4). Dual Credit Programs BC Council on Admissions & Transfer 1 Teacher or Instructor? sitionprogramtitle/categorieshaveevolvedovertime.