In 2007, EPIC began an ongoing partnership with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education on a statewide alignment project. With this effort, South Carolina took a leading national role in addressing the critical issue of improving K–16 alignment.
An aligned K–16 system is one with clear, sequential expectations for students at each level. Holding all students to these expectations enables them to continue to learn throughout their lives by preparing them for success in postsecondary education, the workplace, and society.
The Work
In an effort to improve alignment between high school courses and entry-level college courses, teachers and administrators across South Carolina worked together to ensure a seamless transition for students toward the following goals:
- improve high school graduation rates, which reduces the need for remedial instruction in college, and improves college retention and graduation rates;
- use a statewide framework that supports local solutions;
- strengthen faculty resources by creating regional networks of professional educators who can share ideas, collaborate, and modify their current policies and practices as they learn how to prepare all students for postsecondary success; and
- create clear pathways between high school and college coursework to reduce curriculum redundancy between high school and college.
Instructor participants from high school and higher ed institutions use each other as content resources within their regional consultant groups and teach paired courses together. These courses are intentionally designed as a sequential curriculum between the senior year of high school and freshman year of college.
South Carolina Paired Courses Video
The faculty members who appear in this video taught paired courses developed as part of the South Carolina Course Alignment Project. Along with some of their students, these educators describe how concepts taught in the courses promote a more seamless transition for students as they leave high school and enter college.
Educators from high schools, 2-years college, and 4-year universities participated in regional workshops to discuss ways that their respective institutions work to create better transitions between high school and postsecondary levels. Using concepts from the Four Keys to College and Career Readiness, participants discuss ways that they can encourage students to take ownership in their learning.
Faculty and Student Testimonials
These featured members and students come from South Carolina high schools, technical colleges, and four-year institutions. Together, their words demonstrate how South Carolina is changing its educational landscape by seeking to ensure that all students leave high school prepared to succeed in college.
The Future
South Carolina is employing CampusReady, a web-based diagnostic that will be administered to high school students, counselors and administrators, toward development of a customized South Carolina College and Career Readiness Toolkit. The toolkit will raise awareness about key issues influencing college and career readiness, encourage data-driven decision making, and support successful, comprehensive action planning to make measurable improvements in students’ college and career readiness.