| Concurrently enrolled high school students have long been a population that has been enrolling in community colleges. Until recently these students were almost exclusively 11th and 12th grade students who were admitted to: take advanced classes if the high school didn't have these options, take a summer school class to fulfill a failed high school class, or to take a class to get an early start on college.
In addition the 90’s saw a proliferation of college classes taught on the high school campuses, sometimes even using high school instructors. Most often these classes enrolling high school students had to be taken with the written permission of the individual college instructor as well as high school counselor or principal and the parent. The student received credit on the high school or the college transcript, but not both.
In 1995 and 1996 a new approach was being developed in the California legislature that was consistent with the emerging national trend. This trend was to open up college enrollment to high school students who “would benefit from advanced scholastic and vocational work”. It also would provide dual credit for the classes completed under this provision.
The formal work of the legislature was enumerated primarily in SB 292 signed into law in July, 1996, and subsequent changes to the State Educational Code Sections 76000-76002 and 48800-48802. The Senate bill and the Code changed the way community colleges handle high school students in the following ways:
- Permitted community colleges to obtain apportionment for special part-time students,
- Permitted students to count coursework for both college and high school credit,
- Permitted community colleges to waive enrollment fees for this special part-time population.
A key provision of the changes in the Code related to the determination that the student must have “the ability to benefit from the advanced standing work”. The Code also provided the appropriate definitions of terms and processes. The State Chancellor’s Office provided a written advisory (October 28, 1998, from Ralph Black, Vice Chancellor and General Counsel; Admission of Minors to Community Colleges; “Provisions to Admission & Attendance of K-12 Students”) to community colleges to both interpret legislative language and intent necessary to implement these regulatory changes.
Prior to this concurrently enrolled high school students were a part of every community college’s enrollment. These changes dramatically increased the numbers of students attending for many community colleges and broadened the scope to include students in the 10th grade and below. More importantly it changed the legal and educational approaches the colleges had with the student population. The impact was to faculty and staff throughout the college, both in the classroom and on the campus.
Issues & Problems
A number of issues and problems for institutions to address have emerged with the expansion of the number of concurrently enrolled students and the lowering of the ages of these students. In many instances the addressing of these issues and problems has been with the advice of legal counsel, the assistance of the academic senate and faculty labor groups, and other shared governance groups on campus.
1. Classroom Environment. It is the classroom that has most been impacted by this population. Faculty are often concerned with the alterations of their teaching that might occur consciously or unconsciously with a classroom of youthful students. Language, course content, and the ability to hold adult discussions can become a concern for some topics. In the same way as faculty, older students may react to this broad student body in the classroom. Simply put, does the alteration of teaching style that might occur change the effectiveness of the class?
2. Maturity Level. This issue is another that is a vital concern to the faculty. It is assumed the student has the intellectual ability “to benefit from” the course content. It is the area of social maturity to discuss and truly understand the context of some of the course material and subsequent discussions that may come into question.
3. Discipline & Decorum. Faculty and staff might be more concerned for the potential for classroom disruptions based on a lack of maturity or disruptions in the student center or other areas. This would be more likely with lack of attentiveness, talking or other childish behavior on campus.
4. Confidentiality Issues. These students are not adults. What does this mean in terms of disclosure of academic information to their parents? Do faculty have the time to handle the curious parents wanting to know the progress of their child? Can students utilize other services on campus without the permission or knowledge of their parents? What are their FERPA rights?
5. Health Issues. Do they pay a health fee and can they use the service? Is their Emergency Information on file and who maintains it? Do parents have the right to know any services they have received?
6. Safety Issues. What are the obligations of the faculty for minors in their classes? Do they have a greater obligation than with their other students? Does the College as a whole have a greater obligation?
7. Assessment Issues. How does the College insure that these students have “the ability to benefit” from the coursework without developing a process that is discriminatory.
West Valley College Approaches
West Valley College has become a community college that has one of the largest enrollments of concurrently enrolled students. We have a history of strong relationships with feeder high schools in our geographic area and have always had a strong 11th and 12th grade enrollment. When the legislation changed, our concurrent enrollment sky-rocketed without us overtly recruiting new students until it is now about 1,000 students each semester.
All of the problems and issues visited us and working them through has been no easy task. We have used a shared governance approach as we developed our policies and procedures, but much collaboration time has been spent with our faculty bargaining unit.
There are several key concepts which characterize our approach to solutions that work for us:
- the course content is not altered and is intended for adults,
- the student and the parent must acknowledge their individual responsibilities,
- the student is treated as an adult,
- the institution has special legal responsibilities for all minors on campus,
- the high schools must certify the ability to benefit, and
- the college must insure they do not discriminate on the basis of age.
With these principles as a foundation, let me review the approach that we have taken at West Valley College.
1. Application. We have felt that with our large and diverse in age population it was important to treat the concurrent students as two separate groups:
· 10th, 11th, and 12th grades with an “Concurrent Enrollment Form”
· 9th and under with a “Parent Petition for Concurrent Enrollment”
2. Intake. The submission point for the Enrollment Form and the parent Petition for Concurrent Enrollment is the Admissions Office. The Dean for Student Support Services is the entry point for all petitions and the support material. For the Petition process, the Dean or designee meets with the student and the parent to review the petition and the supporting material.
3. Classroom. Instructors are notified who in their class is under the age of 18. Initially this notification is being done by the Admissions Office staff, but it will eventually be on each class roster.
Course content and teaching is not altered due to the age of the student. We carefully note this issue on the enrollment form and petition for both the student and parent. For those classes that have “sensitive adult material”, we will be noting that in the class schedule, but not in the catalogue.
4. Decorum. Decorum and behavior issues are handled the same way as other students. This has seldom been a real concern. We encourage faculty to define clearly the behavior expected in the classroom for all students.
5. Health Issues. An Emergency Form is completed by all students under the age of 18 and maintained in the Health Center. In the case of illness or and emergency, parents are always notified. Other care is not provided unless the health fee is paid.
6. Mandatory Reporting Requirements. The area of “mandatory reporting for child abuse” and the training necessary to comply with this responsibility is one of the special requirements for minors on campus. This responsibility is not only for faculty but also for staff on campus. Our staff training person has been utilizing the Santa Clara County resources who train personnel in the public schools to provide this training on campus. This is mandatory training for all personnel.
7. Safety Issues. Campus safety is a critical area for all students but must be approached more elaborately for concurrently enrolled students. First safety needs to be discussed with each parent and student in the admissions process. We want students and parents to have a communication system between each other that does not place the college in the middle of it.
Secondly, we have developed pre-designated areas as assembly points for all minors during specific emergencies. These areas will be publicized by faculty in each classroom, during the admissions process, and in a specific emergency based on notification by emergency personnel.
The important concept that we are stressing is that we do have a greater responsibility for minors on campus and their safety. Faculty must recognize that and the administration must plan for these situations and needs.
8. Assessment. The assessment process for the concurrently enrolled student based on the recommendation from the school principal or designee and must certify that the student is there for advanced standing and has the ability to benefit from college level work. West Valley may also apply the same assessment testing to these students as any other. That for us means testing for English and Math placement and only for the classes that require these assessments.
9. Registration Priorities. West Valley has a priority registration system for student cohorts and other students based on the number of units completed. Concurrently enrolled students are at the end of our priority system: 9th grade and under are last and 10th through 12th grade is next to last.
10. Relationship with Parents. This relationship is required when dealing with a student in the 9th grade or under. Insuring the student’s ability to benefit and reviewing the rules and procedures are very important for the success of everyone. It is important for everyone to understand that the grades earned are permanent and college is an adult situation. Communication with the student in an emergency situation is reviewed with all concerned. The parent is also told to communicate with their son or daughter about their academic progress and not the instructor or others at the college.
11. Relationship with Schools. The College will continue to spend a good deal of time with our feeder schools to partner with them in sending only students who truly can benefit from the college experience. We work with them to monitor the success of their students and provide them that feedback. We will continue to look for ways to improve the program based on everyone’s feedback.
12. Home Schooling. For West Valley College this is a large population of our concurrently enrolled students. The laws and regulations do cover this population in the same way as public school students. The Home School administrator is responsible to provide the same information as the school principal.
Summary
This issue has been and will continue to be a complex one for all community colleges. The legal changes in 1998 were significant, as are the legal protections that would prohibit any discriminatory actions towards this group. The best approach is to view this group as other student cohort that is on a college campus, and then to look at ways to enhance student success.
Most of our concern was with the 9th grade and under group. Our work with this group suggests that they truly are ready for advanced work. In fact, in a study we did last year of summer school students versus concurrently enrolled summer school students at 9th grade or less, the 9th grade students did consistently better across all subjects than our other students.
The College does need to address safety and security issues for this group in a unique manner. These issues are now even more present for all of our students.
This issue requires the sincere work with many faculty groups on campus as well as shared governance groups. Faculty see this as a labor issue and have even included some of our procedures in their contract. All of this just underscores how important this issue is to everyone.
Text of the Ralph Black, Vice Chancellor and General Counsel, memo dated October 28, 1998; “Admission of Minors to Community Colleges”
Provisions Related to the Admission and Attendance of K-12 Students
(Legal Opinion M 98-17)
A. Credit Courses
A community college district may admit minors who do not hold high school diplomas, or equivalent, to its credit courses as special part-time or special full-time students; or, to its summer session, pursuant to Sections 48800, 48800.5 and 76001. State apportionment may be claimed for the minors’ attendance if the requirements set forth in these statutes, and the applicable attendance accounting regulations of the Board of Governors are met. (See California Code of Regulations, Title 5, sect 58050 et seq.)
The current version of Section 76001 authorizes special part-time and full-time students to receive credit at the level determined to be appropriate by the school districts and community college governing boards. This is a change from an earlier version of Section 76001 which stated that "the student receives credit for community college courses which he completes in the same manner as if he were a regularly enrolled community college student unless, upon agreement between the two districts, the student receives high school credit for the courses completed.” . We are of the opinion that the change in the wording of the statute reflects the Legislature’s intent to afford high school and community college districts the flexibility to enter into agreements which would allow students to receive both high school and college credit. (See Legal Opinion L 89-19.)
However, Title 5, Section 1630, which is based upon the earlier version of Section 76001, remains unchanged by the Department of Education. This regulation provides that high school credit may be received for a college course if the credit, at the request of the student, is disallowed by the college as credit toward graduation from college. Although, in our view, this regulation is at odds with the current law as expressed in Section 76001, Section 1630 is still in effect and applies to K-12 districts. As a result, until the regulation is changed by the State Board of Education, some high school districts may not agree to permit dual credit.
We have previously held that where the minor takes a class only for high school credit, no enrollment fee or nonresident fee should be charged. (See Legal Opinions L 84-09 and M 97-27.) This is in keeping with California’s free school guarantee for K-12 education. (Cal. Const. Art. IX, Sec 5.) Where the minor takes the class for college credit, the enrollment fee and, where appropriate, nonresident fee should be charged. However, the enrollment fee may be waived for special part-time students. (Sect 76300(f).)
1. Special Part-Time Student (in the regular academic year)
A community college district may admit minors who do not hold high school diplomas, or equivalent, to its credit classes as special part-time students ( Sections 48800 and 76001 (a)).
The minor student must:
(a) Enroll in 12 or fewer units per semester.
(b) Be able to benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work, as determined by the district governing board of the school district in which the student is enrolled.
(c) Be recommended by the principal of the school of the school of attendance.
(d) Have parental consent to attend the community college.
A parent or guardian of a pupil who is not enrolled in a public school may directly petition the president of a community college to authorize the attendance of a special part-time student on the ground that the pupil would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work in courses that would thereby be available.
2. Special Full-Time Students (in the regular academic year)
A community college district may admit minors who do not hold high school diplomas, or equivalent, for enrollment in its credit classes as special full-time students (Sections 48800.5 and 76001(b)), if the following conditions are met:
(a) Upon petition of the minor’s parents to the governing board, and authorization of the school in which the minor is enrolled, the minor may attend the community college as a special full-time student if it is determined by the governing board that the minor would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work in courses that would thereby be available.
(b) The college president determines that the student could benefit from the course or courses in which he or she seeks to enroll.
(c) The student is able to undertake courses of instruction “of a scope and duration sufficient to satisfy the requirements of law.” This requirement is not defined; however, it seems likely that the intent of this provision is that the student should take courses that at least satisfy the requirements in law for high school graduation. The minor is exempt from compulsory school attendance.
(d) The minor has parental consent to attend the community college.
A parent or guardian of a minor who is not enrolled in a public school may directly petition the president of a community college to admit the minor as a special full-time student on the ground that he or she would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work in courses that would thereby be available.
3. Advanced Scholastic or Vocational Work
Questions have been raised regarding the practice of districts enrolling K-12 students in physical education courses, such as football or physical conditioning classes, or in fine arts courses, designed for high school students, In many instances, these classes are held at the high school with a high school teacher conducting the class as an instructor for the college district.
Sections 48800, 48800.5 and 76001(a) and (b), which permit minor students to enroll in community college courses for college credit clearly intend that these students are to be the exception and are to be enrolled strictly for the purpose of seeking advanced scholastic or vocational work (i.e., college level courses). The intent of these sections is to provide educational enrichment opportunities for a limited number of eligible minor students, rather than to reduce current course requirements of elementary and secondary schools.
California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 55002(a) sets forth the standards for approval of degree-applicable credit courses. That regulation also requires that all sections of all courses be taught according to the approved course outline of record. Therefore, the fact that a course has been properly established as a credit course pursuant to Section 55002(a) would provide prima facie evidence that each section of that course is at college level and qualifies for apportionment purposes. However, a given course section may in fact be taught at a level less demanding than that specified in the course outline, and thus fail to meet the requirements of Section 55002(a).
Some exceptional high school students are able to successfully complete courses conducted at the college level. However, a course designed specifically for high school students normally would not meet the standards for approval as a degree-applicable credit course. Moreover, even where the course has been properly established pursuant to Section 55002, if the majority of students enrolled are minors, are typical of that age, and are still able to successfully pass the course, then that course (or at least that particular section of that course) is probably not being taught at college level in accordance with the course outline of record. Such circumstances could trigger an attendance accounting review by the Chancellor’s Office and apportionment claims could be rejected if it is determined that the course or course section is not being taught with the requisite degree of rigor required of a degree-applicable course.
4. Summer Session
A community college may admit minors without high school diplomas for enrollment in its credit courses in summer session pursuant to subdivisions (c , (d) and (e) of Section 76001. The student must:
(a) Be recommended by the principal of the school that he or she attends. For the summer session, the principal may not recommend more than five percent of the students at any one grade level. The individual K-12 school is responsible for monitoring the five- percent limit.
(b) Have demonstrated adequate preparation in the discipline to be studied.
(c) Have availed himself or herself of all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at his or her school of attendance.
(d) Have parental consent.
B. Noncredit
A community college district may admit minors without high school diplomas for enrollment in its noncredit programs pursuant to Section 78401. The minor must be qualified for admission in the judgment of the community college district’s governing board.
C. Other Requirements
In addition, if apportionment is claimed for attendance of minors in credit or noncredit courses:
1. The courses must meet the Title 5 criteria for the design and conduct of courses (Title 5, Sections 55002), which includes that instructors that teach the courses must meet the State minimum qualifications established by the Board of Governors regulations (Title 5, Sections 53400 et seq.).
2. The courses must be open to the general public and must be published in the official catalog and/or schedule of classes with a description that would not discourage enrollment by others who want to avail themselves of the instruction. In addition, registration procedures may not have the purpose or effect of limiting enrollment to K-12 students. (Title 5, Sections 58100-58110.)
3. The students must be under the immediate supervision of an employee of he district (title 5, Section 58056). Where college districts contract for instruction to be provided by another public or private agency, the employees of the contracting entity may also be deemed to be employees of the district if the contract specifies that the district has the primary right of control over the activities of the person(s); and the district enters into a separate written agreement with each of the individuals furnished by the contractor (Title 5, Section 58058). Please bear in mind that such individuals, if they teach the courses approved for the college, must also meet the State minimum qualifications to teach the curriculum.
4. The courses must be otherwise eligible under all of the provisions of Title 5, Section 58050 et seq.
D. Community Services
A community college district may admit minors without high school diplomas for enrollment in its community service classes pursuant to Section 78300. In the judgment of the governing board, the minors must be able to profit from the classes to which they are admitted. Community services classes must be funded from fees for such classes, and no General Fund moneys shall be expended for them. Nor may college credit be awarded for attendance in community service classes.
Forms:
Instruction for Concurrent Enrollment: Grades 9 and under.
Parent Petition for Concurrent Enrollment: Grades 9 and under.
Concurrent Enrollment Program: Expectations and Responsibilities for Grades 9 and under.
Concurrent Enrollment Form: Grades 10, 11, & 12.
Concurrent Enrollment Program: Expectations and Responsibilities for Grades 10, 11, & 12.
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