|
|
|
|
|
|
by pxc
1146 days ago
|
|
|
> Another problem is that public high schools do such an atrocious job at instruction that community colleges have to pick up the slack, so you have schools teaching basic algebra and simple reading/writing skills (i.e. 9th grade level etc.) to young adults whose primary education was a disaster. It's a pretty sad state of affairs, at least in the USA. One of the advertising slogans of the community college I got my 2-year degrees from was literally 'no entry requirements', so offering remedial coursework was really important there. When I tutored (math and computer science) there, I liked working with the remedial students. They were just as motivated as anybody, and it was satisfying to see concepts fall into place for them as we went along. Those remedial courses can also be nice for advanced junior high students, or students at high schools that are crummy in specific STEM subjects, if their parents have the resources and time to get them there. Sometimes a dual-enrollment program also means that those students can get high school credit for those classes, and use them to skip certain classes at their high school or graduate early. |
|
|
My state's dual-enrollment program allowed dual enrollment for the final two high school years. Drawbacks of the program were that, if you used some of your electives in the first two high school years, you can't both graduate high school and take a STEM degree at the same time. In order to graduate high school you have to take an English/liberal arts heavy course load at the community college to fulfill the high school credit requirements. So at best you could get a high school diploma and a A.A. degree, but not an A.S. degree. Even then, in order to take only a single year of dual enrollment, I had to skip taking any physics course (HS or CC). Taking two years was a non-starter - I would have had to have skipped math and advanced Chemistry to do that.
I would rectify the situation by either allowing dual-enrolled students to waive high school course requirements, and allow them to get a high school diploma just based on credits (or at least get a high school diploma as long as they also receive a 2-year degree). Or blatantly tell them that a high school diploma is irrelevant, for them, as long as they have an associate's degree, and to go for the associate's degree instead of the diploma, and just let them walk with their high school cohort at high school graduation and hand them a dummy diploma.
Also much better individualized guidance counseling on dual enrollment.