A PEACE ACTION PLAN FOR EARLY COLLEGE

A PEACE ACTION PLAN FOR EARLY COLLEGE 13

A Peace Action Plan for Early College: Building Support at Honolulu Community College

Name

Date

Outline

I. Envisioning the Harvest: What is the vision and why is it important?

A. What is Dual Credit/Early College?

1. Accelerated learning options for high school students that differ from Advanced Placement courses.

2. In Hawaii, Running Start, Early College, and Jump Start.

B. Different models of Dual Credit/Early College

1. Offered at high schools (eg. Early College).

2. Offered at college campuses (eg. Running Start and Jump Start).

C. Increasing participation in these programs makes it important to build structural supports into the system to ensure the success of all students.

1. Steady growth in enrolment, with ten percent of all high school graduates in the state of Hawaii participating by 2015 (Lee, 2016).

2. Success stories: students with Early College/Dual Credit much more likely to enrol in college (81% versus 53%) (Lee, 2016).

3. Especially beneficial to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, helps them to enter and stay in college.

II. Preparing the Soil: What specific communities and issues are we focusing on?

A. Students at Honolulu Community College in Dual Credit programs.

B. High school students seeking Dual Credit enrolment.

C. Focus on how to create a more supportive environment and promote the success of all students.

III. Planting the Ceeds: What specific tools can we use to resolve conflict and achieve goals?

A. Technology and information sharing

B. Expanded opportunities and options for funding

C. Community supports and strategic alliances

D. Formalized programs

IV. Nurture to Sustain: What strategies are necessary for long-term impact?

A. Strategic alliances with community, state, and federal organizations

B. Job placement and career planning

C. Counseling services

D. Peer group/student organizations on campus

E. Strengthen policy

Abstract

Dual enrollment (also called concurrent enrollment) and Early College provide options for high school students to enroll in college courses and receive credit, both for high school and college. The success of Dual Enrollment and Early College in Hawaii has been astounding. Not only are participation rates high and getting higher, but students who participate in these programs are more likely to matriculate at college and also more likely to complete their college education (Lee, 2016). Moreover, the Dual Enrollment and Early College opportunities have narrowed the achievement gap among students in Hawaii by helping economically disadvantaged students have access to college education (Lee, 2016). Yet research has also shown that low income students and students of color are not reaping as many benefits from dual enrollment and early college programs (Taylor, 2015). Therefore, it is important to continue supporting these programs and to identify how these programs can be improved. Honolulu Community College offers opportunities for Early Enrollment and Dual Credit. However, more can be done to encourage student participation in these programs, and ensure their success via robust and structured support networks. An action plan for the success of Honolulu Community Colleges students is based on the Ceeds for Peace model for action planning.

Envisioning the Harvest: Shared Futures

A shared future...

The vision for Honolulu Community College is to become a hub for learning, to expand opportunities to underserved individuals and communities, and to open pathways and doorways to personal and professional advancement for all members of the community. Peace is promoted in specific ways, such as by creating a supportive campus environment for the high school students in Early College and Dual Enrollment courses, or for incoming students who had participated in these programs while they were in high school. Furthermore, the vision of peace includes providing the financial, emotional/psychological, social, and political...…with community, state, and federal partners. High profile funders like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provide substantial support for Dual Enrollment and Early College, and funding may also be derived from similar organizations (Hoffman, Vargas & Santos, 2009).

Long term success also depends on making the Dual Enrollment and Early College programs evidence-based and responsive to changes in the labor market, student body demographics, and other contextual variables. Paying attention to statistics of college enrollment and completion rates, program designers can also see what peace building ceeds have been working and which are ineffective. Do students need more science, technology, engineering, and math-related courses in their Dual Enrollment and Early College curricula? Are students receiving adequate counseling, both for their emotional and psychological health but also for their career planning needs? The success of these programs depends often on the numbers; so far student participation in Dual Enrollment and Early College continues to climb but if and when those numbers plateau, educators and policymakers may need to investigate alternative pathways to peace and educational attainment.

Conclusion

Creating peace in the world of higher education requires collabortion and community action. Multiple stakeholders participate in the Dual Enrollment and Early College programs in the state of Hawaii. The results have been promising, and have been helping reduce achievement gaps and promote a more egalitarian, peaceful college environment. To sustain these successes, Honolulu Community College can take several action steps. These steps include improving the promotional strategies and recruitment techniques used for Early College and Dual Enrollment, offering students a range of scaffolding and formal support services throughout their program, helping students prepare for and enroll in college, and then seeing to it that students complete college and obtain a desired career. By taking simple action steps that include leadership development, organizational structure changes, and policy…