State council begins work to address looming deadline for dual credit teachers
04/29/2016
The state’s Dual Credit Advisory Council met this week to continue discussing the ramifications of the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) determinations on dual credit faculty qualifications. ISTA’s Director of Governmental Relations Gail Zeheralis is a council member.
As a reminder, the HLC (not to be confused with Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education) is the state’s regional accrediting body for Indiana’s colleges and universities. In June 2015, the HLC voted to require that dual credit faculty must, by Sept. 1, 2017, have a master’s degree with 18 hours in the particular discipline they teach. After much lobbying from an Indiana delegation, the HLC resolved to provide an opportunity for member institutions to apply for an extension of the Sept. 1, 2017, deadline to Sept. 2022, for faculty to comply with the master’s with 18 hours requirement.
Additionally, the members of the Dual Credit Advisory Council were advised that the HLC recently offered a couple of revisions or clarifications to its guidelines for qualified faculty:
- For teachers with master’s degrees in education, content-focused courses may count toward the requirement for 18 credits in the dual credit subject taught.
- Institutions may continue to hire dual credit teachers who do not meet the new HLC requirements — with the understanding they must become qualified within the extension window.
However, these revisions have resulted in further questions that Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education will pursue with the HLC, as the clarifications issued are subject to multiple interpretations.
The HLC application deadline requesting the compliance extension is Dec. 15, 2016. Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education plans to submit the extension request by October 2016.
In the meantime, the Commission for Higher Education will be working on further quantifying the scope of Indiana’s problem and investigating best cases for compliance.
The Center for Excellence in Leadership in Learning out of the University of Indianapolis recently conducted a focus group with teachers on the topic of dual credit teacher credentialing. Not surprisingly, a majority in the focus group indicated that the most meaningful financial incentive to take additional coursework would be in the form of “significant and permanent increases in contracted pay,” e.g., negotiated salary steps in a district’s salary plan.
Regarding the completion of coursework, the focus group indicated courses with shortened/accelerated (six to nine weeks), online and flexible scheduling (summer, weekends, after-school) options would be most impactful. The group also proposed trainings and other professional development opportunities tied to partnering higher education institutions or testing out opportunities conducted outside of the classroom.
On another front, Indiana’s four-year public universities are meeting to develop 18-credit programs for select content areas for individuals who already have a master’s degree, but not in the content area the individual wants to teach. This concept may allow an individual to take courses at two or three universities to earn the necessary credits. Many of the courses would be delivered online though there will be on-campus options as well.
Initially, the work group identified the following content areas as the most immediate needs:
- English
- Communications/speech
- Mathematics
- Biology
- Chemistry
- History
- Spanish
There were 1,238 high school teachers identified who might fit the profile of having a master’s, but not necessarily in the field in which they teach. , It is estimated that 77 percent of the dual credit teaching force find themselves in this scenario. ISTA noted that not all disciplines were represented in this group and not all disciplines can be addressed online. The group will continue to work on this and more information will be forthcoming.
The Dual Credit Advisory Council were in unanimous agreement (with data bearing this out) that Indiana’s dual credit program offers unique and valuable learning opportunities for students and families. The current program has been a successful initiative. Indiana should pursue a course of action that will result in the broadest, most inclusive interpretations to the criteria the HLC outlined.
The Dual Credit Advisory Council will next meet in September 2016.