How Does Dual Credit Policy Affect Texas School Districts

Policy Change and the Effect on School Districts

Policy change can effect Texas school districts both positively and negatively depending on the policy in question. In Texas, dual credit policies have evolved greatly in the past 23 years. In the beginning, districts offered advance placement credits. These courses, in many schools, were offered only to students who were believed to have the highest possibilities of success. However, current dual credit policy has created an open access opportunity for all 9th through 12th grade students and is multifaceted.

According to the study by Texas Education Agency & Shapley Research Associates presented to the 81st legislature, Texas policies on dual credit date back to SB1 in 1995 when Texas first began to make allowances for a student to take a course in which they could receive college credit hours and high school credits. Subsequently, in 2003, HB415 made allowances for school districts and colleges to receive funding for students who are dually enrolled and SB976 establishes middle college options for at-risk students to take college courses in an attempt to gain their high school diploma and associates degree. In 2005, the 79th legislature introduced HB1 and established the early college high school option, which allowed a targeted population of at-risk students to begin taking college

Innovative schools with smaller enrollments, large comprehensive high schools with open access dual enrollment, as well as, career and technical programs may pose funding challenges for districts. All aspects of school operations, including but not limited to; staffing, student attendance, high school allotment, attendance tracking, IHE partnerships and building articulation agreements to 4-year universities are greatly affected by the ever-changing