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Overcoming Senior Slump: The Community College Role. ERIC Digest.

A growing body of literature suggests that high school curriculum, especially during the senior year, is greatly lacking in academic intensity. A recent report from the National Commission on the High School Senior Year indicates that students find the last year of high school to be "a waste of time" and "boring" (2001, pp. 16-17). Not only are students not being challenged during their senior year, they are also not preparing for college. The Education Trust reports that while almost three-quarters of high school graduates are entering higher education each year, only about half of these students have completed at least a mid-level college preparatory curriculum (4 years of English, and 3 years each of math, science, and social studies), and these numbers drop to about 12 percent when 2 years of foreign language and a semester of computer science are included (2001). These reports conclude that high school students need to be engaged in more rigorous coursework, and they advocate the involvement of higher education institutions in providing opportunities for high school students to enroll in more challenging courses. This digest will examine this high school curriculum issue, and in particular, its implications for higher education and the role that community colleges can play in combating "senior slump".

NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

CONSEQUENCES OF SENIOR SLUMP

The consequences of "senior slump" are also reflected in the rising numbers of students who must take remedial courses. Recent figures compiled by the NCES show that nearly half of all 4-year college students are required to complete at least one remedial course (Adelman, 1999), and the Bridge Project at Stanford University estimates that over half of the students entering community colleges directly from high school do not meet the placement exam standards (Kirst, 2001). Among those requiring remediation are students who took rigorous courses during their early years of high school, but because they wasted their senior year, forgot what they had previously learned. These students waste time and money by having to repeat topics they studied in high school instead of moving on to college-level work.

COMBATING THE PROBLEM

* Concurrent Enrollment Programs: These programs offer community college-level courses to high school students on either the high school or college campus. Students enrolled in these courses usually receive academic credit on both their high school and college transcripts. Policymakers praise concurrent enrollment programs for providing more academically challenging and rigorous coursework to high school students and for increasing student aspirations to attend college (Boswell, 2001).

* Distance-Learning Courses: An increasing number of community colleges are creating distance-learning courses specifically for high schools. These "virtual high schools" provide students with the opportunity to take advanced and more rigorous courses that are not offered at their high schools (Carr & Young, 1999, A53).

* Middle College High Schools: Middle colleges are high schools that are fully housed on the campuses of community colleges or universities. These schools explicitly target students who are identified by their teachers and counselors as being at-risk for dropping out of high school (Cunningham & Wagonlander, 2000). Students at MCHS's are encouraged to take advanced courses and may earn college credits and even an associate's degree by the time they graduate from high school. The National Middle College High School Consortium reports that middle college collaborations have resulted in improved school attendance rates, improved grades, higher high school graduation rates, lower dropout rates, increased rates of college attendance, and increased job placement rates (Cunningham & Wagonlander, 2000).

In addition to the benefits that students receive from engaging in rigorous courses, these programs can also benefit students financially. Total college tuition costs can be reduced for students in these programs in two ways: (1) by accelerating progress towards an undergraduate degree, and (2) in many states, by providing totally or partially subsidized tuition costs for the college courses (Boswell, 2001; Carr & Young, 1999).

Community colleges can also benefit financially from these programs. Twenty-seven states allow both the K-12 school district and the community college to count concurrent students toward their enrollment numbers for state financial support (Boswell, 2001), and middle college collaborations allow both the high school and community college to apply for a broader range of grants and funding opportunities (Lieberman, 1998). Programs allowing high school students to take community college-level courses can also raise the image of a college's community service orientation, can serve as an excellent admissions recruitment tool, and can aid community colleges in attracting better-prepared students (Chapman, 2001; Lieberman, 1998).

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Boswell, K. (2001, Spring). State policy and postsecondary enrollment options: Creating seamless systems. New Directions for Community Colleges, 113. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Carr, S. & Young, J. R. (1999, Oct 22). As distance-learning boom spreads, colleges help set up virtual high schools. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A53-58.

Chapman, B. G. (2001, Spring). A model for implementing a concurrent enrollment program. New Directions for Community Colleges, 113. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cunningham, C. L. & Wagonlander, C. S. (2000, Fall). Establishing and sustaining a Middle College High School. New Directions for Community Colleges, 111. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The Education Trust. (2001, Winter). Youth at the crossroads: Facing high school and beyond. Thinking K-16, 5(1). Washington, DC: author. (ERIC Document Reproduction No. ED 458 351).

Horn, L. & Kojaku, L. K. (2001). High school academic curriculum and the persistence path through college: Persistence and transfer behavior of undergraduates 3 years after entering 4-year institutions. NCES 2001-163. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction No. ED 456 694).

Kirst, M. W. (2001). Overcoming the high school senior slump: New education policies. Washington, DC: The Institute for Educational Leadership. (ERIC Document Reproduction No. ED 455 720).

Lieberman, J. E. (1998, Fall). Creating structural change: Best practices. New Directions for Community Colleges, 103. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Commission on the High School Senior Year. (2001, January). The lost opportunity of senior year: Finding a better way. Princeton, NJ: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. (ERIC Document Reproduction No. ED 453 604).

Robertson, P. F., Chapman, B. G., & Gaskin, F. (2001, Spring). Editors' notes. New Directions for Community Colleges, 113. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.