Date of Award

3-2022

Rights

© 2022 Tanya Berfield

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Jennifer Scott

Second Advisor

Audrey Rabas

Third Advisor

Tammy Rich

Abstract

Dual enrollment (DE) is the opportunity for high school students to participate in college coursework while high school. DE includes two overarching characteristics, student access and course integrity. Literature boasts of the benefits related to participation such as career exploration and college transition. Roadblocks may include cost, course eligibility, and lack of qualified teachers. Proponents of DE claim that a benefit of DE participation is increased student college readiness. State regulations are inconsistent regarding, development, implementation, and delivery of DE programming resulting in inconsistencies of student access and course integrity. ACT released a report in 2018 that states 38% of students who participated in their exam demonstrated college readiness.

The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions of secondary teachers and post-secondary faculty members on the influence of secondary student participation in DE on college readiness. This included six secondary teachers and five post-secondary faculty. Three themes and eight subthemes were identified. The first theme, student access also included student qualification, and course timing and access to technology. The second theme, course efficacy included course expectations, teacher training, and resources, course alignment and student outcomes, and teacher and faculty engagement. The final theme, college preparation, included academic readiness, perceived benefits, and nature versus nurture.

Recommendations for further study include a pre and post DE participation comparison of both students and teachers to measure differences in perception of college readiness. The second is a quantitative study to measure improvements in required college remedial coursework, improved college retention and completion rates of students who participated in DE versus those who did not.

Comments

Ed.D. Dissertation

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