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| By Michelle Symington Staff Writer WEST SPRINGFIELD The class schedule for Kerri Conway, a sophomore at West Springfield High School (WSHS), is a little different than her peers. Rather than taking seven classes at the high school, which is the usual course load for students, Conway takes five high school classes and two college courses at Westfield State College through its online course program. Conway has time set away during her day at WSHS in which she logs onto the computer from the Guidance and Counseling Department at the high school to attend her college classes online. Conway is the only student at WSHS currently participating in the Massachusetts Colleges Online (MCO) pilot dual enrollment program in which high school students have the opportunity to earn both high school and college credits. David Kelley, executive director of MCO, explained that the pilot dual enrollment program is a new initiative using the benefits of online education. "It gives students access to college without the barrier of time and geography," he said, adding that the program allows students to obtain several college credits on their own. He added that using the online courses is the "magnet" for the program. He said that most of the students who would participate in the program are 16 or 17-year-olds who are familiar with the technology. "It is not a quantum leap at all to master the skills to be in an online course," he said. He said that Massachusetts used to offer communities reimbursement for dual enrollment programs in which students physically attended classes at local colleges, but the funding was cut when the "economy turned sour." He added that dual enrollment is something that many schools in states across the country participate in and Massachusetts decided to revisit the idea during an educational summit last winter that was attended by representatives form the Governor's Office, Commissioner of Education and the Chancellor of Higher Education. After the summit, Kelley said the MCO teamed up with several member institutions to begin the process of the pilot program, which would be documented to see how it is working. The program began this fall in Massachusetts and Kelley said that the students' perspective as well as the perspectives from the college and high school administrators will be documented. "The important thing is to see how students benefit from it," he said. According to Kelley, once the program is documented, recommendations will be made to the Legislature regarding the program so that they can look at funding and policies to enhance opportunities for students. He said many states across the country have had successful long-term dual enrollment programs. He said, for example, that one program in Washington, has had some students complete their first two years of college, earning an associate's degree, while still in high school. Kathleen T. Jachym, department chair of guidance and counseling at WSHS, said the high school became involved in the pilot program after being approached by Lynn Zayac from WSC. "They wanted us to be the first school in the area to offer students the opportunity to take courses online from Westfield State," Jachym said. The two courses offered to students during the fall semester are Sociology of the family and a Survey of Art History course. According to Jachym, the program came together at the end of the summer, when many students had set schedules and did not want to change them. She said that one student, Conway, expressed interest in the program. She explained that the two courses fulfill the high school elective requirements, while giving the student college credit as well. Although Conway is a sophomore at WSHS, Jachym said that the ideal student would be an 11th or 12th grader who can work independently. Jachym said that Conway is "the exception, not the rule." She said Conway was at the right place at the right time and was able to take advantage of the program. "She is an excellent student with excellent transcripts," she said, adding that Conway is mature, focused and has direction. "She is just the student to take the classes so other students can see how valuable it is." She added that a student who participates in the program needs to be "someone who can get the work done with little supervision." She said that some students need the teacher/student relationship and need immediate feedback. With one student currently in the program, Jachym said that she hopes to increase the number of participants in the program as it develops. "It all starts as baby steps," she said. "It is something we would want to see through." Zyac, administrator for the Center for Instructional Technology and academic instructional designer at WSC, said that one of the missions of the college is collaborate with the surrounding communities and the new pilot program is one of the ways that allows the college to do that. She explained that the college has offered dual enrollment programs in the past, but the participants had to physically attend classes on campus. "This is a new program offering the school to go to them," she said. She said that students who participate in the program are enrolled in a "normal college class" with a combination of students, which may include graduate and continuing education students as well as day students. Zayac said that she chose WSHS as the school to collaborate with because she knew that Dr. Suzanne Marotta, superintendent of West Springfield Schools, is a supporter of online education. WSHS offers virtual high school classes, for example. Zyac said Marotta has taught online courses and encourages online education. "She was a natural for me to partner with, knowing her understanding of online education," she said. Although the program is only currently offered to students in West Springfield, Zayac said she hopes to expand the program to other school systems. "It is a great program, giving high school students an opportunity to do college work, and I think for some, it will help them transfer to college better," Zayac said. When students go through the college application process, Zayac said having participated in the dual enrollment program shows that they have completed college level work. Conway said that she decided to participate in the program because she saw that she would receive college credits and she had an interest in sociology and history. She said that another reason she wanted to take an online class had to do with her brother. She explained that he, a senior at WSHS, is blind and takes online high school classes. "It made me want to do it," she said. She said that her college courses began on Sept. 8 and that she receives weekly assignments. "It's been amazing," she said. "I really enjoy it." She added that she has the opportunity to talk to other students in the class via the Internet. Conway said that the first assignment for the art history course was to write a small biography and post it on the course's website. "I got a lot of responses for being in high school," she said, adding that many of the students are adults, some of whom have grandchildren. Conway said that going into it, she did not have any expectations because she had never taken an online class. However, she said, "It is better than I thought it would be." Conway has time during her high school day to log onto her class and she said she does the homework at home along with all of her other homework from her high school classes. She said that participation in the program is something she would like to continue. She added, however, that once she gets to college, she would like to take classes on campus. "I think if I do this for three years, I'd like to try a college classroom," she said. |