Giving Compass' Take:

• Shawna De La Rosa diagrams the importance of expanding the reach of dual enrollment to promote college readiness across a wider demographic of students.

• Which students are more likely to enroll in college prep courses? How can we work to improve the enrollment of underprivileged students?

• Delve deeper into dual enrollment and its effectiveness in improving high school education.

The Bridge to College program in California's Hayward Unified School District holds orientation sessions every semester to introduce middle school students and their families to the early college option, in which instructors from Chabot College teach 7th and 8th graders subjects like business, engineering, music, humanities and early childhood development, District Administration reports.

The orientation is an open house designed to show families the classes are college courses in which participants earn credit, though they are taught at the district’s schools. It also builds communication between students and college professors as an additional layer of support.

The recruitment efforts may be the reason the program, which accepts students with a B average or higher, continues to increase enrollment.

As recent studies by the American Institutes for Research​ on the Early College High Schools dual-enrollment program indicate, these types of opportunities can have long-lasting, positive impacts on post-secondary enrollment.

Read the full article about expanding the reach of dual enrollment by Shawna De La Rosa at Education Dive.