Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine dual credit policy and what barriers Indiana high schools have in offering dual credit courses. The goal of this study was to answer one grand tour question—What barriers exist for Indiana high school students regarding dual credit availability? Three sub-questions supported this grand tour question and are as follows: 1. How does dual credit policy influence availability in high schools? 2. What is the role of teacher credentialing to offer dual credit opportunities? 3. How do school mission and vision support dual credit availability for high school students? This study will add new knowledge to the barriers to Indiana high schools ability to offer dual credit coursework. A review of existing literature took place focusing on a national perspective on dual credit, background of dual credit in Indiana, dual credit learning options in Indiana, Indiana accreditation requirements for dual credit, benefits of dual credit, and the drawbacks and barriers to student dual credit completion. Through purposeful sampling, six Indiana high schools participated in nine semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals. A targeted sample was one rural and one urban school from the low dual credit participation level, one rural and one urban school from the medium dual credit participation level, and one rural and one urban school from the high dual credit participation level. Three overarching themes, each with two subthemes emerged during the research. The primary theme of dual credit credentialing for high school teachers is problematic for schools included the following subthemes: (a) school scheduling is challenging when only credentialed teachers can teach dual credit classes and (b) finding teachers qualified to teach dual credit is increasingly hard. The second primary theme of other forms of dual credit such as AP and CTE are easier and more flexible for schools to offer presented the following subthemes: (a) with the AP test being another conduit for offering students college credit, teacher credentialing is removed from the equation and (b) CTE offers dual credit based on credentials that include work experience, not a masters degree. The third primary theme of dual credit requirements creates several barriers for schools in offering more opportunities for students included the following subthemes: (a) the teaching pipeline was not prepared for dual credit requirements, and (b) universities and K–12 schools have worked together to do the best they can. Three implications came from this study. The first implication asks the question: What might a streamlined process across multiple stakeholders look like for dual credit?” The second implication was that there are simply not enough educators with masters degrees for dual credit credentialing. The final implication indicated quality teaching outweighs the required masters degree for dual credit credentialing. Four recommendations came from this study. They were as follows: to investigate an existing model for dual credit, considerations for dual credit policy makers, considerations for K–12 and post-secondary dual credit educators, and considerations for future research.

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