New pilot program will provide high school students with more options

Several states are opening up new options to high school students who want to graduate early.

The National Center on Education and the Economy is starting a pilot program in eight states that will allow high school students to graduate after their sophomore year and enroll in community college.

In order to graduate, students must enroll in ninth grade, then pass board examinations after their sophomore year to make sure they are ready for community college and will not need remedial courses, said Betsy Ruzzi, deputy director at the National Center on Education and the Economy.

The program is aimed at reducing redundancy in college courses by better preparing high school students for the course work that will be required in college, she said.

“Its not about how long you can sit in your seat in high school, its about showing you’re ready for college-level course work,” Ruzzi said.

She said no individual school districts have been chosen yet, but that the pilot will start in the fall of 2011.

The eight states that have volunteered to participate are Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The states chose to be included in the pilot after the center hosted a convention giving the details of the program and asking for participants.

The pilot will last for three years and will expand to more schools each year. The cost is dependent on the number of students that participate in each district.

North Carolina is not participating in the pilot program but does offer similar options.

 Fay Agar, director of the Early College High School Initiative for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, said there are now 70 early college high schools in the state.

The early colleges are directed more toward first-generation college students and lower-income families, and program acceptance is not merit based because it aims to build important college-level skills, instead of requiring them, Agar said.

“This is about opening up the doors of college to a wide array of students who have not traditionally been afforded the opportunities of a college education,” Agar said.

Students who enroll in the program take high school and college courses simultaneously, starting with mainly high school courses and college skill building courses their ninth grade year and then progressing, she said.

Within four years, the students are able to graduate with both their high school diploma and an associates’ degree.

 In North Carolina, the program has a 90 percent graduation rate, and 46 of the schools had no drop outs.

“We are changing lives and helping families,” Agar said.



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