(Back to the index) (Back to the beginning of this issue) © 2009 CORD	North Carolina has recognized the need for high school students to begin their college careers early. On the Learn & Earn Online initiative website (http://vlc.nccommunitycolleges.edu/LaE/) the following statement indicates that even more high school students will be going to the community college: "Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Mike Easley and the NC General Assembly, North Carolina high school students can earn college credits through a special Learn & Earn Online initiative beginning in the 2007-08 school year." In addition, "the purpose of the Huskins Bill cooperative program . . . is to make available to high school students college level courses not otherwise available to them and to effect an uninterrupted education flow from the high school into the community college or four-year college or university" (http://www.sprunt.com/huskins.html). These initiatives mean that more students under age 18 will be able to enroll at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (A-B Tech). In the 2001-2002 academic year, 6.9 percent of our curriculum students were under age 18. In spring 2009, over 20 percent of the curriculum students are dual enrolled. The Teaching College Courses to High School Students program was developed to increase and maintain quality in vocational and technical education when delivered to high school students. Vocational/technical faculty may have little or no experience teaching high school students. Instructors are often unaware of best practices and college resources available to them. Many indicate that they would benefit from knowing about the resources available when teaching high school students. In designing the program, the developers held focus group meetings with (1) high school personnel (assistant principals; to receive input on what they would like college instructors to know before coming to the high school campus) and (2) third- and fourth-year high school students who had taken at least two college classes (to find out what they would have liked to receive from college faculty). As a result of these focus groups, A-B Tech now offers workshops for college instructors who teach high school students. The first workshop was held in January 2009. However, we have also developed an online course using Blackboard to provide a flexible, well-organized, cohesive, and easily accessible resource. This allows the community college to integrate the skills and experiences of the vocational/technical instructor with the training and support necessary for effective teaching of the high school population. The workshops and online course cover many topics, including: Understanding the different options available for high school students at A-B Tech. Understanding the resources available to instructors who teach these courses. Understanding instructor responsibilities when teaching high school students. Learning what high school administrators want instructors to know when teaching courses on their campuses. Learning what high school students want instructors to know about them as students. In addition to offering this program at A-B Tech, the college received a Perkins grant to make the online content available to other community colleges in North Carolina. At the NCPN conference in Atlanta, a workshop will provide information on both the grant and the teaching methodologies and resources available to postsecondary instructors who also teach high school students. Back to the index     © 2009 CORD	Pamela Silvers is chairperson of business computer technologies at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in Asheville, North Carolina. For more information, contact Pamela at psilvers@abtech.edu.