In many ways, Illinois has long been the leader in expanding dual credit through a large number of guidelines and incentives. This expansion has been rapid — over the past five years, enrollment in at least one double-credit course in the 2017-18 academic year has increased by 18 percent to about 60,000 high school students.2 While Illinois` 48 Community Colleges offer double-credit courses, the type and quantity vary greatly from college to college. In addition, colleges differ across the state in how they collaborate with districts when it comes to processing course applications, authorizing teachers, and fees charged to students and families. This patchwork system has resulted in massive inequalities in our country in terms of access to quality double credit courses by Illinois High School students. For school districts with a strong dual credit program and a community university partnership, more than half of graduates earn college credits through at least one double credit course. In contrast, few graduates leave high school with community college credits on their transcript, where districts have insufficient partnerships. Between March and May 2019, our team convened seven Committee meetings with EdSystems, developed meeting documents, designed sections of the MPA for review, and facilitated committee discussions to reach consensus. The Committee decided that the MPA should be more than just a legal failure – members were working to put in place a model of recommended practice for municipalities to improve and ensure access to a high-quality dual credit programme. Committee members worked together to address the needs and concerns of community colleges and school districts, while focusing on student access and support. The final version of the MPA was adopted by the committee in June 2019. It was adopted and published by the ISBE and CICS in July 2019, along with a document containing frequently asked questions.
As described above, partnership challenges for high school districts and community colleges have impacted their ability to provide high-quality dual-credit credits at scale. In 2018, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 100-10493, which helps address inconsistencies in dual credit opportunities in Illinois. To meet the partnership challenge, a key provision of the new law requires that a community university district, at the request of a school district, be under its responsibility, a partnership agreement with the district to offer dual-credit courses. However, if the school district and Community College are unable to agree on the terms of the partnership agreement, the school district and Community College must comply with a Model Partnership Agreement (MPA) adopted by the ISBE and ICCB in accordance with the law. In early 2019, ISBE and ICCB appointed and convened the Dual Credit Committee to develop the MPA, with equal representation from school districts and community colleges. Our team at the NIU Systems Education Center (EdSystems) has been led by agencies to occupy and facilitate the work of this committee. What happens next to the introduction of the MPA? Scope! At EdSystems, we plan to support state public relations, which will include an Illinois State MPA guide, a website to provide additional resources and examples of best practices, as well as webinars and personal workshops to connect with high school and community employees who participate in work-study credit courses.
