Agenda - 2018 Vertex Symposium | The University of Texas System

Friday, October 5, 2018

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM		Check In

Plenary Panel

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM		Dual Enrollment Access and Equity: The Research and Policy Perspectives
		In recent years, a growing body of research on the benefits of dual enrollment participation – particularly for low-income students and students of color – has spurred state efforts to broaden program access to students. However, in spite of recent research and policy activity, questions remain. To what extent do underserved students continue to be underrepresented in dual enrollment programs, both in individual states and nationally? To what extent do state policies remain misaligned with the practices research identifies as most impactful or underrepresented students? What are the unintended consequences of certain policy approaches? And what are the next horizons for state policy action and research to make dual enrollment a more effective means to close the postsecondary participation and completion gap among students? This highly interactive and thought-provoking opening plenary will address these questions, raise others, and set the stage for deeper engagement of topics throughout the Symposium.

		Moderator: Bill Tucker

		Panelists: Melinda Karp, Ph.D.; Jennifer Zinth

10:30 AM - 10:45 AM		Break

Concurrent Sessions I

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM		Best Practices to Address the Transferability vs. Applicability Conundrum
		Low-income students are the most negatively impacted – and dual enrollment's potential as an equity agent is diminished – when courses do not transfer, or are not applicable to a degree. How do states balance ensuring that dual enrollment courses are recognized by public postsecondary institutions statewide with ensuring classes fulfill requirements for a particular course of study? States have taken diverse approaches to addressing the transferability versus applicability conundrum. This session will unpack state approaches, including the tradeoffs states, students, and institutions must make in ensuring course applicability and transferability.

		Panelists: Lisa Eads, Ph.D.; Larisa Harper, Ph.D.; Gretchen Lohman, Ph.D.

		Early College High School: Local, State and National Perspectives
		Early college high schools offer a program of study allowing students to complete as many as 60 postsecondary credits with a high school diploma. This session will provide national, state and system perspectives on the early college high school movement. Speakers will address the advantages and unique challenges of the early college model, where the movement is nationally, as well as best practices and lessons learned from the state and local levels.

		Panelists: Aaron Alder; Tari Lambert; Joel Vargas, Ed.D.

		Minority-Serving Institutions Advancing Equity through Dual and Concurrent Enrollment
		Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are vital components of the American higher education ecosystem, and they have an important role to play in achieving equitable student outcomes regarding dual and concurrent enrollment. Combined, there are more than 1,000 minority-serving institutions of higher education. The potential these institutions have to move the needle for student-of-color participation in dual and concurrent enrollment programs is significant. This session will explore exemplary policies and practices of HBCUs and HSIs that are advancing equity and attainment goals in their respective states.

		Moderator: Antoinette Coleman, Ph.D.

		Panelists: MJ Bishop, Ed.D.; Denise Pearson, Ph.D.; Ivette Savina; Camacia Smith-Ross, Ed.D.

		The University of Texas System Dual Credit Study
		Published in July 2018, this comprehensive research study looks at students in one of the nation's largest public university systems to determine what impact dual credit has on student success in college. At the request of the UT System Faculty Advisory Council. The study – which offers a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data – was conducted by the UT System Office of Strategic Initiatives with all eight UT academic institutions.

		Speakers: Aimee Hendrix-Soto; David Troutman, Ph.D.

12:00 PM - 1:15 PM		Networking Lunch

Concurrent Sessions II

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM		A Vision for Success: Dual and Concurrent Enrollment for Rural and Native American Students
		Research on dual and concurrent enrollment has shown promising results for increasing postsecondary access, persistence, and completion, yet certain challenges and nuances exist with the delivery to rural and tribal communities. Some studies suggest that rural students are more likely to participate in these options, but demographics associated with rural communities complicates the picture as data show that rural communities have higher poverty rates and achievement gaps as well as lower overall educational attainment. Further, other complicating factors independent of dual and concurrent enrollment play a role, such as challenges associated with recruiting and retaining teachers, funding disparities, etc. Explore these issues from a holistic lens that includes various perspectives related to expanding student access, increasing program availability, and ensuring quality – with leaders who have studied and worked in-depth on these issues in two different state contexts.

		Moderator: Demarée Michelau, Ph.D.

		Panelists: Barbara Damron, Ph.D., RN, FAAN; Amy Williams

		Dual Enrollment Funding Models: Pluses and Minuses
		To increase dual enrollment participation, particularly among underrepresented students, states are increasingly shifting the financial burden for dual enrollment coursework from families to other entities, including the state. This session will highlight examples of state funding models that minimize or eliminate tuition costs for dual enrollment students. Speakers will explore the impact – and unintended consequences – of funding models on various program aspects.

		Moderator: Dianne Lassai Barker

		Panelists: Victoria Harpool; Tina Polishchuk, Ed.D-C

		Expanding the Pool of Qualified Instructors as an Equity Lever
		For various reasons, dual enrollment partnerships are increasingly turning to high school instructors to teach dual enrollment courses. Yet, the conflicting realities of demand for more course offerings, and a scarcity of teachers in urban and rural schools who possess the necessary qualifications to teach college-level courses, are challenging states' ability to provide equitable student success to dual enrollment courses. This session will explore state and regional strategies to increase the number of high school instructors who meet the requirements to teach dual enrollment courses. Speakers will also elevate various challenges inherent within these strategies.

		Panelists: Jessica Espinosa; Jenny Parks

		What We Know about Rigor and Quality in Concurrent Enrollment Programs
		Sometimes growth in concurrent enrollment leads to questions about the rigor and quality of the college courses high school students take. While most states have some minimal quality standards in place, 20 of them have modeled theirs on the national standards promoted by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP). Despite this, few have meaningful mechanisms to ensure that all concurrent or dual enrollment providers adhere to minimum standards. When SHEEOs, legislatures, and other state policy makers wish to address concerns about course and program quality, there is a variety of tools they can use to establish oversight mechanisms. These range from very prescriptive, regulatory processes to ones that place more onus on institutional responsibility and accountability. This session will explore both (a) the research on rigor: how well concurrent enrollment prepares students for subsequent postsecondary coursework in the same subject area, and (b) policy interventions: efforts Washington and Minnesota have made to improve concurrent enrollment program quality statewide.

		Moderator: Adam Lowe

		Panelists: Joyce D. Hammer, Ph.D.; Gregory Kienzl, Ph.D.; Greg Rathert

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM		Break

Keynote

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM		Making Racial Equity a Routine Practice
		The word "equity" is trending, but what does it mean? More importantly, how can leaders and practitioners adopt equity-mindedness as a mental schema? Estela Mara Bensimon, Dean's Professor of Educational Equity and Director of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education will introduce key concepts, language, and practices to make racial equity a routine practice.

		Keynote Speaker: Estela Mara Bensimon, Ph.D.

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM		Break

Facilitated Discussions

4:00 PM - 5:15 PM		Focusing on the Equity Agenda: Community & Technical Colleges

		Facilitator: Jacob Fraire

		Focusing on the Equity Agenda: Four-Year College and Universities

		Facilitator: Jason L. Taylor

		Focusing on the Equity Agenda: K12

		Facilitator: Tonie Badillo

		Focusing on the Equity Agenda: State Agencies

		Facilitator: Amy Williams

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM		Reception

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Plenary Panel

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM		The Long and Winding Road to Seamless Pathways: Concurrent Enrollment in Colorado
		Intended as a strategy to cultivate seamless P-20 pathways and increase credential completion, Colorado offers two primary options for concurrent enrollment: 1) concurrent enrollment, and 2) ASCENT, which is a program that allows students to remain at their high schools to continue participating in concurrent enrollment for one year following their 12^th-grade year. According to the most recent data from the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the Colorado Department of Education, more than 32 percent (41,857 students) of all 11^th and 12^th graders in public high schools participated in dual enrollment programs in the 2016-2017 school year, an increase of more than 10 percent statewide. Notably, compared to the previous year, participation in concurrent enrollment increased 16 percent among Asian students; 8 percent among African-Americans students; 8 percent among Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students; 21 percent among Hispanic students; 6 percent among White, non-Hispanic students, and 12 percent among students identifying as more than one race. Hear from a panel of state and local leaders about the history of concurrent enrollment in Colorado, including how it came to be, the challenges along the way, and their hopes for the future as leaders continually aim to improve student outcomes.

		Moderator: Demarée Michelau, Ph.D.

		Panelists: Matt Gianneschi, Ph.D.; Patty Quinones; Misti Ruthven

9:45 AM - 10:00 AM		Break

Concurrent Sessions III

10:00 AM - 11:15 AM		CTE Dual Enrollment: A Work in Progress
		In spite of the research on positive student outcomes, Career Technical Education (CTE) dual enrollment programs face unique challenges, including or related to program offerings/access, funding, and securing qualified instructors, among others. This session will explore innovative strategies in three states to address these barriers.

		Panelists: Emily A.A. Dow, Ph.D.; Jennell Ives; Tine Polishchuk, Ed.D-C

		How Do We Measure Student Success in Dual Enrollment Programs?
		As concurrent enrollment and dual credit programs expand across the country, questions arise as to how we count those students, how we measure their progress toward a degree, and how do we capture their overall success. These questions have an impact on students, on institutions, and on state and federal agencies, and national clearinghouses. This session will look at the metrics, examine their variances and commonality across institutions and sectors, and discuss policy solutions that go beyond the disruption of dual enrollment and work toward solutions to measure student success holistically and respectfully of student pathways and populations.

		Moderator: David Troutman, Ph.D.

		Panelists: Maureen Ewing; John Fink; Trey Miller, Ph.D.; Jason L Taylor

		Impacting Faculty Effectiveness Through Institutional Policy and Practice
		Faculty are central to delivering high quality dual credit and concurrent enrollment courses. However, institutional policies and practices can have a big impact on faculty effectiveness in these courses. This session draws on research and best practices from higher education and K-12 to examine how we can ensure we are supporting, challenging, and sustaining our faculty. Panelists will share innovative practices in effective staffing, professional development, advising, and textbooks, with an emphasis on program costs.

		Moderator: Kelty Garbee, Ph.D.

		Panelists: Tonie Badillo; Sarah Hooker

		What Can We Learn from States Leading on Dual Enrollment?
		As a results of major state policy changes over the last decade, Indiana and Colorado have emerged as national leaders in dual enrollment participation. Roughly one in three of Colorado's public school juniors and seniors participated in dual enrollment in 2016-2017, while 55 percent of Indiana's Class of 2015 completed one or more dual credit courses. During this session, speakers will identify state approaches that have made the most significant contributions to dual enrollment equity and access. Speakers will also provide a candid appraisal of lessons learned, and vexing challenges that remain.

		Moderator: Carl Einhaus; Tari Lambert

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM		Break

Closing Synthesis

11:30 AM - 12:45 PM		Closing Synthesis
		The conference will close with an interactive session that synthesizes Symposium learning, address lingering questions, identifies remaining gaps, and proposes solutions in research, policy, and practice.

		Facilitators: Adam Lowe; Denise Pearson, Ph.D.