Reading, writing and arithmetic have not died, but learning has become more complex, even with the advent of new technologies. Partnerships between K-12 and higher education can make or break current and future students, and the Dallas County Community College District is investing in student success through early college and collegiate high schools—where high school students can get a taste of college life.

Early college high schools and at-risk students
High school dropout rates are rising nationally and, in the some parts of the Dallas area, that means half of area 9th-grade freshmen don't become 12th-grade seniors who graduate. And at-risk students—even when they have the potential to succeed—are likely to leave school as well. With support, encouragement and a targeted curriculum, however, those students can earn their diplomas—and even college credits or a degree. Today, almost 12 million students are enrolled in community colleges across the country—a number that includes 60 percent of all undergraduate students in Texas. The Dallas County Community College District can help students who want to finish high school make college a part of their career plans.

DCCCD began intensifying its efforts in fall 2006 to decrease the high school drop-out rate by providing students from Dallas Independent School District, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and those from the Richardson area and beyond a chance to walk in the doors of three new early college or collegiate high schools in August.

DCCCD officials took first steps to assist at-risk students by joining hands with DISD to open the El Centro College Middle College in 1989. In fall 2006, that partnership expanded to include the Early College High School at Mountain View College. Additionally, the district and the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD—with assistance from the University of North Texas—opened the Brookhaven Early College High School, a charter campus of CFB ISD. These K-16 partnerships provide students with a chance to earn a high school diploma and graduate with an associate's degree or with enough college credit hours to transfer to area universities as a junior.

"Chartering" the future
DCCCD stepped out even further with the opening of the Richland Collegiate High School, which Richland College operates as a charter high school—the first of its kind in the state. Again, those students who graduate from RCHS will leave with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree in hand after completing a rigorous academic program. The focus of this particular high school is mathematics, science and engineering.

At some locations, high school students are taking classes side by side with college students. Others attend classes in separate facilities administered by their respective school districts. Two locations offer five-year programs that provide graduates with both their high school diplomas and associate's degrees from a DCCCD college; others can earn both credentials in four years. And those high school students won't necessarily sacrifice participation in extracurricular programs. RCHS students, for example, are welcomed in Richland's choir, bands and orchestras, theater productions, student newspaper, intramural sports, athletics and student government.

A national trend
Early college high schools like those at Brookhaven and Mountain View are part of state and national efforts to reach out to potentially successful but currently at-risk students. The Early College High School initiative is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York; the Ford Foundation; and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. By 2008, the partner organizations will create or redesign more than 150 pioneering small high schools like those that DCCCD opened this year. The ECHS Initiative also is part of the Texas High School Project, a $130 million public and private effort to demonstrate that every Texas student can succeed in high school and graduate, ready for college, work and citizenship.

Students enrolled in these efforts already are leading the way on assessment test scores, academic activities and more. The unique environments in which they learn help contribute to their success, as well as teachers, administrators, parents and others who believe that these students can succeed and do well in college, too.

DCCCD is responding, as a district, to the educational needs of the community; it wants students to succeed, to grow both personally and professionally, and to be well-prepared for careers in many exciting fields. By introducing students to college-level work at an earlier stage in their academic careers and by better preparing them for those challenges, DCCCD and its educational partners can reduce the drop-out rate, improve test scores, cultivate a real interest in college and create an educated workforce which will benefit everyone.

For more information, visit the DCCCD Web site at www.dcccd.edu.

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