SHREVEPORT – One foot in high school and one foot in college.
That’s the situation that dual enrollment students, scholars who take some college classes for both high school and college credit in a high school setting, find themselves.
Nearly 30 LSUS dual enrollment instructors explored to how “respect both spheres” of these students Monday at a professional development workshop on campus.
Guest speaker Dr. Jeffrey King, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Texas State University, provided ways to deliver college material to these students.
“The goal is to for you to leave here with either a product or a couple of ideas that will help you generate effective instructional design for teaching college material to students getting ready to go to college,” King said. “In the dual credit (enrollment) space, there’s an overlap between high school and college.
“We have to respect both spheres when teaching these students because they aren’t quite college students but they are in college in these classes.”
Dual enrollment programs are increasing in popularity nationwide with nearly 2.5 million high school students taking at least one dual enrollment course in the 2022-23 academic year, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.
LSUS is reflecting that growth with the addition of nine new dual enrollment teachers with biology being the fastest growing subject (four new instructors to bring total to six).
The University taught 564 students in its early college programs (dual enrollment and academic excellence programs) total in 2024-25, which has nearly doubled in the past three years.
“I want to thank all of you for partnering with LSU in Shreveport in teaching dual enrollment courses,” said LSUS Chancellor Dr. Robert Smith. “You’re giving students an opportunity to get ahead, but that’s not the most important thing you’re doing.
“You’re teaching students that they can do college-level work. That’s really important that they see that this is different from their other classes. They are in a familiar setting in your high school, and you’re a familiar face, but I challenge you to lift these students to meet college-level expectations in these courses.”
King invited dual enrollment teachers to absorb and relate their favorite bits of information from Monday’s professional development into their existing belief and knowledge structure.
He explained that people are bombarded with countless sensory inputs each day, but teaching is about triggering students to move bits of information into their working memory and hopefully into their deep memory bank, where information is enshrined permanently.
“It’s not just about how students learn, it’s about how they store and retrieve knowledge,” King said. “We want to employ methods that increase deep learning and easier retrieval from deep learning memory.”
The Louisiana Board of Regents has placed an emphasis on dual enrollment as it seeks to reach 60 percent of its working-age population with a credential beyond a high school diploma, which could include a college degree or some type of industry certification. A 2024 report measured 51 percent of this Louisiana population (adults 25-64) to have a credential beyond high school.
High school students who graduate with some college credit or more likely to enroll in college and pursue some type of degree.
LSUS is expanding those opportunities in other ways with the launch of its graduate certificate for English teachers.
Traditionally a master’s degree is required to teach dual enrollment courses, but this 18-credit-hour certificate will certify dual enrollment teachers and expose those teachers to specific education pedagogy.
The certificate program could expand to other subject areas in future years.
