High school students roam the campus at Texas A&M University \u2013 Kingsville (TAMUK).<\/p>\n
TAMUK partners with 20 school districts who send some of their students to college while still taking courses in high school, which is called dual enrollment. This list includes Premont, Freer, San Diego and Brooks County ISDs.<\/p>\n
In total, these high schools send 1,159 students to TAMUK.<\/p>\n
The schools pay for tuition, books and supplies for their students, allowing at-risk kids the opportunity to get a college education. By the time they graduate high school they can have up to 60 college credits.<\/p>\n
Miranda Joiner, coordinator of the dual enrollment program, believes the program is a great benefit to these students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough their participation, high school students gain first-hand knowledge as to the college-level academic and social expectations that facilitate the transition of motivated students to higher education,\u201d Joiner said.<\/p>\n
Superintendent of Premont ISD, Steve VanMatre, applauds the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom an academic perspective, the level of rigor in the classroom, the standards of a typical four-year university within the Texas A&M University system is hard to duplicate at a comprehensive 2A high school,\u201d VanMatre said. \u201cIt\u2019s priceless for our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Premont ISD, 120 out of the 152 students take college courses, 71 of them take the classes through TAMUK and eight percent are special needs.<\/p>\n
Since Premont ISD enrolled students in the dual enrollment program the percent of their students who went to college rose from seven to 70 percent<\/p>\n
Animal Science and Pre-Vet major Jodi Linscomb is enrolled through the dual enrollment program at Freer ISD.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy it because I get to experience new things other kids don\u2019t, I have more opportunities, like when I graduate I\u2019m going to have maybe 30 hours,\u201d Linscomb said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult at the same time because I\u2019m in sports and it\u2019s a lot sometimes, but I have a good support system.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Linscomb points out the flawed execution of preparing them for college.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the teachers go easier on us. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re in an actual college class. I don\u2019t think we\u2019re really that prepared for college, like we\u2019re going to get a rude awakening,\u201d Linscomb said.<\/p>\n
Sociology Lecturer Kristina Bernal-Marichalar sees the same issue from a different perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn theory the dual enrollment program is wonderful, the practice of it might need a little bit of tweaking,\u201d Marichalar said.<\/p>\n
In the 2018 summer session, Marichalar taught a course with 40 students. The course had a high school-to-college senior ratio of approximately four to one. In her student evaluations for that class a few students felt the course was too easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the first three or four assignments I recognized that these students still needed a little more work as far as understanding the theories,\u201d Marichalar said.<\/p>\n
Not only does Marichalar make assignments a little easier she alters the material to easier as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I go over my lecture notes right before class I take certain things out because I don\u2019t know if the dual enrollment student is going to understand, or misinterpret, what I\u2019m meaning, especially when I talk about sexuality, crime rates, abortion and drug usage,\u201d Marichalar said. \u201cWhen I do throw out figures and research-based materials I don\u2019t know if they are going to understand that\u2019s what the research supports versus are they going to think that it\u2019s my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another potential problem for putting high school students in a university environment is the possibility of a relationship with an older student.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do worry that they\u2019re going to develop a social relationship with an older student and go somewhere they shouldn\u2019t,\u201d VanMatre said. \u201cThat\u2019s why prior to every semester we do as much education as we can with the family to make them aware that there are risks and this is what we\u2019re going to do to minimize those risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
While instructors want their students to have experience going to college on their own, they want to ensure an inappropriate relationship does not happen.<\/p>\n
Early College High School Administrator for Premont ISD Nina Everett faces this issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep as close an eye on them as we can, but we do actually want them to get the experience of being around college students maybe creating friendships with them, study groups and interacting with them in an academic way,\u201d Everett said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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