Dual Credit in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana: A Comparative Policy Analysis

1. Dual Credit in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana: A Comparative Policy Analysis Gregory D. Carlson North Dakota State University

2. Abstract • This study is a policy analysis of dual credit policy in the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. Accompanying this analysis is a literature review addressing the fundamentals of policy analysis, state postsecondary education policy, postsecondary education finance, and state dual credit policies. Observations are provided regarding effective structure of state dual credit programs based upon analysis of these policies. Differences exist in among these states in program governance, funding, and eligibility.

3. Introduction • Collaboration • Education opportunities • Program specifics vary by state • MN, ND, & MT dual credit policies • Literature Review: Dual Credit, Higher Education & Policy Analysis • Discussion: comparing policies & literature • Recommendations for dual credit policy

4. Statement of the Problem • Policy variations include: • College vs. K-12 control • Institutional latitude • Financial arrangements • Admissions criteria • Enhance participation and effectiveness

5. Significance of the Problem • Reasons for Dual Credit Policies: • Senior year academic rigor • College preparation • Transition • Collaboration • Financial savings • Student motivation (State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, 2006, p. 6)

6. Definition of Terms • Dual Credit: “A program through which high school students are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, taught at their high school, that fulfill high school graduation requirements and may earn the student college credits” (IPEDS, 2007). • Policy Analysis: a social and political activity • moral & intellectual responsibility • plan, budget, design, evaluate, and manage • transparency • values • public relations

7. Literature Review • Dual Credit: • state postsecondary policy • postsecondary finance • state dual credit policies • Administration: • political & bureaucratic • Policy Analysis: • fundamentals • postsecondary application

8. Postsecondary Finance • Economics keeps institutions alive • Root of participation • Funding: help first-generation and low-income • Benefits to: families, cities, states, nation, & world • Cultural, & political life • Bridge socio-economic gaps • Social mobility

9. State Policy • Access • Technology • Accountability • Efficiency • Investment

10. State Dual Credit/Enrollment Policy • Community College-Secondary Relationships • Enhancing senior year & reducing time to degree • Little federal involvement • Quality, Consistency, & Portability • Part of pathway • Technology • K-16 Initiatives

11. Postsecondary Administration Birnbaum (1988): • Collegial (Consensus) • Political (Peace) • Bureaucratic (Rationality) • Anarchical (Making Sense) • Cybernetic (Balance) • Political: (Legislatures) • Bureaucratic: (Agencies)

12. Political Institutions • Bargain, compromise, & reach agreements • Dramatic circumstances required for drastic action • Power Is fluid, requires coalition management • Leaders: intuition, experience, & sense of situation • Legislature: “a supercoalition of subcoalitions with diverse interests, preferences, and goals” (p. 132). • Groups “change, overlap, are created and fall apart” (p. 140). • Power is negotiated • “Art of the possible” (p. 148) • Individual & Group Interests

13. Bureaucratic Institutions • Coordination to accomplish large tasks • Administration based on merit • Hierarchical control system • Legitimacy: stability, regularity, & performance • Divide: labor, rights, & responsibilities • Exist “in all parts of all institutions” (p. 118) • Created by same processes

14. Policy Analysis 8 Steps (Bardach, 2005): • Defining the problem • Assembling the evidence • Constructing the alternatives • Selecting the criteria • Projecting the outcomes • Confront the trade-offs • Decide • Tell your story

15. Defining the Problem • Deficit or Excess • Contributing Factors • Opportunities

16. Assembling the Evidence • End Game • Literature • Best Practices

17. Constructing the Alternatives • Comprehensive to Focused • Models • Market • Production • Evolutionary • Simplify • Design Problems • Managing Cases • Managing Arguments

18. Selecting the Criteria

19. Projecting the Outcomes • Scenarios

20. Confront the Trade-Offs • Outcomes • Compare • Simplify

21. Decide • “Twenty-Dollar Bill Test”

22. Tell Your Story • “Grandma Bessie Test” • “What’s the answer?” • Consider the Audience

23. Methodology and Procedures • Procedures in Bardach (2005) • Birnbaum (1988): Political & Bureaucratic • Examples can provide guidance • MN, ND, and MT • MN and ND: proximity, history, & design • MT: proximity, structure, & faculty experience

24. Data Collection • Minnesota: Office of the Revisor of Statutes (1985, 2008); Mazzoni, (1986); Mullin (1997); Nathan, Accomando, & Fitzpatrick (2005) • North Dakota: Century Code (2008); Legislative Assembly (2009); NDUS (2003, 2005, 2007); Decker (2006) • Montana: State of Montana (2001); Office of Public Instruction (2006); Moe (2007a, 2007b); Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (2009)

25. Data Analysis • Criteria: • State vs. Institutional Control • K-12 vs. Postsecondary Control • Access • Funding Considerations • Licensure Requirements

26. Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act in Minnesota • 1985: Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act • Gov. Rudy Perpich and Rep. Connie Levi • Open-enrollment debate • Grades 11 & 12: college courses FT or PT • Tuition & book funds follow students • Purposes: • Rigorous academic pursuits • More academic options http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?id=8542&subchannel=null&sc2=null&sc3=null&contentid=536879490&contenttype=EDITORIAL&programid=9227&agency=NorthStar (9-23-2009)

27. MN PSEO, Continued • Information: Grades 10-11 • College student services • Accelerated courses • 92% continued education (Mullin, 1997: Porter, 2003) • $10.9 M. saved: tuition, fees, & books (Boswell, 2001) • Noted for cost, HS & college credit, & course variety • Areas for growth: males, minorities, & information http://www.leg.state.mn.us/ (9-23-2009)

28. Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act in North Dakota • 1995: defeated PSEO: paying tuition from K-12 aid • PSEO (1997): DPI, NDUS, & Board of Voc. & Tech Ed. • College Courses: Grades 11 & 12 • No licensure • Fees: students & parents http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=74&id=State%20Flag (9-23-2009)

29. PSEO in ND, Continued • Decker (2006): • FINDET • Enrollment increasing 1997-2004 (except -9 students in 2002-03) • Above 3.0 GPA in NDUS • 2009: HB 1273: Grade 10 • WSC 2009: 220 dual credit students (185 in 2008) http://www.nd.gov/fac/historyinfo/flowerbed.htm (9-23-2009)

30. Dual Credit in Montana • 2001: “Running Start”: Grades 11 & 12 • Secondary-Postsecondary Partnerships • Tuition paid by students or district • P-20 Dual Credit Task Force (2006): • High School & College Credit • College syllabus & design • State Coordination • Reduced cost http://mt.gov/tourism.asp (9-23-2009)

31. Dual Credit in MT, Continued • Moe (2007a, 2007b): • Online • Financial savings • Degree completion in less time • Students “get lost in the maze of interests” (2007b) • Board of Public Education • Class 8 Licensure (2008) http://www.leg.mt.gov/css/default.asp (9-23-2009)

32. Results • MN: (1985) Debate and robust participation • ND: (1997) 2009: Grade 10 • MT: (2001) 2008: Class 8 License

33. Discussion • Bardach (2005) • Birnbaum (1988) • MN: spirited debate, funding follows students, higher participation • ND: agency support, student funded, Grades 10-12 • MT: K-12 role in availability, funding, and licensure

34. Conclusions • Common policy? • MN & ND: Mandate • ND: Funding? • MN: Grade 10? • MT: Access? • MT resembling ND or MN?

35. Recommendations • Technology to enhance access • Consider state policy guidance • Consider financial incentives • State data collection • Research on time to degree

36. Consequences of Inaction

37. Alternatives to Policy Analysis…

38. References

39. References, Continued

40. Gregory D. Carlson • Graduate Research Assistant • North Dakota State University • gregorydcarlson@yahoo.com