Dual Credit Programs. 

Dual credit programs allow high school students to simultaneously earn high school and postsecondary credit.  Dual credit programs can be course-based or exam-based.  Course-based dual credit programs can be offered at an institution of higher education, for example the Running Start Program, or at a high school through the College in the High School program, the Career and Technical Education Dual Credit Program (previously called Tech Prep), and other programs.  Exam-based dual credit programs allow students to receive postsecondary credit with a score of 3 or better for Advanced Placement course exams, a score of 4 or better for International Baccalaureate course exams, and a score of E or better in Cambridge International course exams. 

Dual Credit Report.  

Annually, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in collaboration with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Washington Student Achievement Council, the public baccalaureate institutions, and the Education Research and Data Center (ERDC), must report to the Legislature regarding student participation in dual credit programs.  The report must include:  (1) data about student participation rates and academic performance in dual credit programs; (2) data on the total unduplicated head count of students enrolled in at least one dual credit program course; and (3) the percentage of students who enrolled in at least one dual credit program as a percent of all students enrolled in grades 9 through 12.  The data on student participation must be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and receipt of free or reduced-price lunch.

Education Research and Data Center. 

The ERDC, within the Office of Financial Management, maintains a longitudinal data system with information on students across time and multiple sectors.  These sectors include early learning, kindergarten through grade 12, postsecondary education, and the workforce.  Data is shared with the ERDC by partnering agencies and institutions across the state.  The longitudinal data system facilitates cross-sector data sharing, analysis, research, and reporting.

The Education Data and Research Center, rather than the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, must collaborate with delineated entities to prepare the annual dual credit report to the Legislature.  The State Board of Education is added to the list of entities that must be collaborated with in preparing the report.

The list of data that must be in the report is expanded to include award of high school credit and award of postsecondary credit at an institution of higher education.  In addition to other disaggregation requirements, the data in the report must be disaggregated by:  students who are dependent, students who are homeless, and multilingual/English learners. 

The report must also recommend additional categories of data reporting and disaggregation.  For each additional category, the report must describe:  (1) the purpose for reporting on, or disaggregating by, the category; (2) the specific metric or indicator to be used; (3) whether the metric or indicator is a new data point; and (4) which educational entities should be responsible for collecting the data.  The 2022 report must recommend whether to require:  (1) reporting of data related to application of postsecondary credits earned through a dual credit program towards postsecondary credentials and degrees; and (2) a comparison of postsecondary credential and degree attainment between students who did or did not participate in a dual credit program, and between students who participated in different dual credit programs.