LIBRARY OF STRATEGIES
Add a post-secondary preparatory pathway
Root Cause: Advanced course options are either missing or insufficient
Area of Opportunity: Course Offerings
Lever of Change: Advanced Coursework
SCENARIO
Students at your school have been taking AP Computer Science as an elective, but many are struggling to succeed in the course and on the exam, resulting in few qualifying for college credit. After discussing with students, you realize they lack the prerequisite skills and content knowledge because they haven’t taken any prior computer science courses. This highlights the need for better preparation before enrolling in AP Computer Science.
Additionally, you see the need to create a pathway for students interested in becoming teachers. This pathway could include internships, exposure to the teaching profession, and the opportunity to earn one or two years of college credit toward a teaching certificate by the time they graduate.
Strategy overview
Students often reach high-rigor courses unprepared for the challenges they present. To help students succeed in advanced coursework and better prepare for college, it’s crucial to establish a pathway or series of courses that build up to a dual credit course. This sequence of courses is designed to gradually increase in complexity, ensuring students develop the necessary content knowledge and skills to handle rigorous academic environments. By following a structured pathway, students can address readiness gaps and be better equipped for the demands of advanced coursework.
When do this
When designing the course catalog and registration materials for the upcoming school year, it’s crucial to align the timing of this pathway’s introduction to effectively recruit students into the cohort as early as 8th or 9th grade. This early engagement ensures students are aware of the pathway and can plan their academic journey accordingly, setting them up for success in advanced coursework later on.
Implementation considerations
Design Strategically:
- Align Pathways to Student Interests: Choose fields of study that interest students, are relevant, and lead to dual credit courses for college.
- Engage Students: Conduct focus groups with students already in the courses to understand their struggles, barriers to preparedness, and scheduling issues that might affect the addition of new pathway courses.
- Involve Teachers: Identify the right teachers for the pathway and include them in the design process. Empower these teachers to help design the pathway and lead both curriculum development and student recruitment.
- Consider Established Programs: Decide whether to adopt a pre-designed program from organizations like PreAP/AP, PLTW, IB, or Cambridge, or to create a local course pathway using existing courses. Study these programs’ strategies to either adopt or adapt them to your own pathway.
- Streamline Course Offerings: Determine which courses might need to be retired to make the new pathway the best option for students and to avoid competition that could result in low enrollment.
Build a Runway:
- Plan for Multi-Year Implementation: Recognize that full implementation may take several years, especially if the pathway begins with a 9th-grade cohort. Map out a timeline for a phased rollout and start recruitment at the appropriate grade level.
- Ensure Course Alignment: Teachers and leaders should work to align the courses within the pathway to ensure they prepare students for success (refer to the strategy “Ensure Alignment of Content and Skills Within a Course Sequence when Adding Accelerated Courses”).
- Recruit and Motivate Students: Prepare engaging materials to recruit students into the pathway. Generate excitement about the program by highlighting the opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school.
Additional resources
IN THE FIELD
Lassiter High School STEM Academy 🔗
Lassiter High School in Cobb County, GA, has established a STEM Academy within the school, offering pathways that combine Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. This innovative approach allows students to engage in a focused STEM curriculum while benefiting from both hands-on, project-based learning through PLTW and the rigorous academic challenge of AP courses.
