Dual Enrollment, Shelby County Schools, 2014–2021

Dual enrollment (DE) is a program in which high-school students take college-level courses and receive both college and high-school credit concurrently. The intended benefits of DE include increasing high school course offerings, initiating students into the “college mentality,” creating a seamless continuum of learning from high school to college, eliminating duplication of courses taken in high school and college, reducing the financial burden of college, and reducing the time required to earn a degree.

Dr. Thompson designed and led the DE evaluation to assess the program’s effectiveness for the more than 1,500 participants each year. The evaluation culminated in a stand-alone literature review on the impact of DE participation on postsecondary outcomes, ongoing reporting of summary statistics on progress toward goals and objectives, and a comprehensive evaluation report assessing the relationship between DE participation and college readiness.