Dive Brief:

• A University of Texas at Austin pilot program called Texas MicroMajor offers Austin Independent School District students a pathway to college majors with high school concentrations that include dual enrollment and other advanced classes.
• KVUE reports students who want the credential have to take four courses, two of which must be dual-credit (whether that is through an online course or a dual-enrollment course) and two of which can be approved Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level courses.
• The program is expected to better prepare students for the rigors of college, increasing their chances of not only going to but graduating from college, and UT-Austin would like to expand the program to other districts across the state.

Dive Insight:

Community colleges are much more likely to develop relationships with their feeder districts for programs that help students bridge the gap from high school to college. So many students start community college needing remediation, it is a worthy investment to offer a summer intensive that lets students brush up on deteriorated math or writing skills.

In the push to improve student achievement, schools across the P-20 spectrum are creating tighter bonds. K-12 schools are reaching out to local preschools to align expectations in the same way colleges are reaching backward to influence the education of the students they will soon be responsible for. The ultimate goal, of course, is a fully aligned pathway from preschool to the end of college.