| (a) Authority. These rules are authorized by Texas
Education Code, §§28.009(b), 28.0095, 130.001(b)(3) - (4),
and 130.008.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to encourage
and authorize public institutions of higher education to deliver innovatively
designed dual credit courses that integrate both college-level content
in the core curriculum of the institution alongside college-readiness
content and skills instruction. These innovatively designed courses
will allow students the maximum flexibility to obtain college credit
and provide integrated college readiness skills to students who are
on the continuum of college readiness and will benefit from exposure
to college-level content.
(c) Student eligibility. An eligible student must be
enrolled in a public school district or open-enrollment charter as
defined in Texas Education Code, §5.001(6), and meet the requirements
of §4.85(b) of this subchapter (relating to Dual Credit Requirements).
Notwithstanding §4.85(b), an institution may enroll a high school
student who is not exempt or college ready under the requirements
of §4.54 or §4.57 of this chapter (relating to Exemptions,
Exceptions, and Waivers and College Ready Standards, respectively)
in a math or communications College Connect Course offered by the
institution.
(d) Course content. The following standards apply to
delivery of College Connect Courses offered under this rule:
(1) An institution may only offer College Connect Courses
within the institution's core curriculum in accordance with §4.28
of this chapter (relating to Core Curriculum).
(2) An institution shall also incorporate supplemental
college readiness content to support students who have not yet demonstrated
college readiness, as defined in §4.57, within these courses.
The supplemental college readiness content shall be related to and
integrated with the subject matter of the course. An institution may
deliver this supplemental instruction through a method at their discretion,
including through embedded course content, supplemental coursework,
or other methods.
(e) The Coordinating Board may provide technical assistance
to an institution of higher education or school district in developing
and providing these courses.
(f) Additional Academic Policies.
(1) College Connect Courses offered through dual credit
must confer both a college-level grade and a secondary-level grade
upon a student's successful completion of the course. A grade conferred
for the college-level course may be different from the secondary-level
grade, to reflect whether a student has appropriately demonstrated
college-level knowledge and skills as well as secondary-level knowledge
and skills. An institution may determine how a student enrolled in
this course may earn college credit, whether through college-level
course completion or successful completion of a recognized college-level
assessment that the institution would otherwise use to award college
credit.
(2) An institution must enter into an institutional
agreement with the secondary school according to §4.84 of this
subchapter (relating to Institutional Agreements) to offer College
Connect Courses.
(3) An institution is strongly encouraged to provide
the maximum latitude possible for a student to withdraw from the college-level
course component beyond the census date, while still giving the student
an opportunity to earn credit toward high school graduation requirements,
in accordance with §4.85(g) of this subchapter (relating to Dual
Credit Requirements).
(4) Hours earned through this program before the student
graduates from high school that are used to satisfy high school graduation
requirements do not count against the limitation on formula funding
for excess semester credit hours under §13.104 of this title
(relating to Exemptions for Excess Hours).
(g) Funding and Tuition. The Coordinating Board shall
fund College Connect Courses in accordance with §4.87 of this
subchapter (relating to Funding).
|
