Minnesota pioneered dual-credit programs to let high school students take college classes. After 25 years, the average dual-credit student is white, middle-class, female and academically strong, reports the MinnPost.com.
The state is trying to involve more minority, low-income and at-risk students. Minnesota plans to use online courses to expand access, especially in rural areas, says Karen Klinzing, assistant commissioner of education. Technical and community colleges are working with high schools on articulation agreements.
An example is preparing students for the heavy technical reading required in a two-year auto mechanics program.
“One of the things a student is going to encounter … is the auto mechanics manual, which demands the highest level of reading ability of any other technical reading that we can find in the occupations,” Klinzing said, adding that “students who might have been tracking toward becoming an auto mechanic may not have much instruction in technical reading.”
MinnPost.com looks at five students who got a jump on college through dual-credit programs in Minnesota, Oregon and Chicago.
