Academic Challenge changes at Delaware Tech raise concern
Changes in the Academic Challenge program at Delaware Tech have raised concern about the future of the program that has given high school students the opportunity to earn University of Delaware credits.
Some alumni feel the program is being watered down. Delaware Tech officials say that's not true, and changes will improve academics while giving students more flexibility.
“We want what's best for the students here,” said Bobbi Barends, vice president and campus director for Delaware Technical Community College, Owens Campus. “It's not a one-size fits all.”
Academic Challenge began 30 years ago as a dual-enrollment program, offering high school students the opportunity to earn up to 27 college credits from the University of Delaware.
In January 2016, Barends said DelTech officials first talked about discontinuing University of Delaware courses offered to juniors and seniors to provide a larger course selection of DelTech courses with greater flexibility for students who have busy schedules.
Andrea Boyle Tippett, director of external relations for University of Delaware, said Delaware Tech officials notified UD in spring that DelTech would take over the upper-level courses, and UD's assistance was no longer needed.
“It's DelTech's program, so it was DelTech's decision,” she said, offering no further comment.
Already, Barends said, first-semester high school juniors in the program take Delaware Tech credits – the change would replace UD courses for the second semester junior year and both senior-year semesters.
Students in Academic Challenge as eighth-graders this year will have the opportunity to take the traditional UD courses or the expanded Delaware Tech selections. For those enrolling in 2017-18, Academic Challenge will provide a greater selection of classes, including oral communications, African American Literature, Technical Writing, Creative Writing, Statistics, discrete math, physics with calculus and chemical principles – all DelTech courses provided to give students a better selection and more flexibility in filling their class schedules, said Ileana Smith, former vice president and campus director, who was instrumental in the change.
“Much like the many curricular changes we have implemented over the years in response to changing standards in public school education, this change is aligned with present and future directions,” Smith said.
Despite the change, Barends said, students will still have the opportunity to take UD courses if they choose. New to Academic Challenge, she said, is an advisor who will help students create a schedule and guide them through courses, similar to a college experience.
“If a student wants to take a UD course, that's OK,” she said. “Adding the advisement piece will be helpful for the students.”
Students enter Academic Challenge after qualifying as eighth-graders. In their first year, they take an English class and the equivalent of Algebra I at Delaware Tech, but not for college credit. Subject-specific math classes and English classes, though not for credit, continue through 10th grade.
With more options, Barends said officials hope fewer students will drop out of the program. She said the attrition rate had increased because they were unable to fit the courses into their school day.
For the past four years, she said, the average attrition rate from sophomore to junior year was about 24 percent for English courses. The attrition rate for math was about 28 percent.
“These attrition rates combined with feedback from Academic Challenge students prompted us to modify the program to provide more flexibility and options in scheduling to support student retention through level 5 coursework,” Barends said.
Alumni concerns
Dan Shortridge, a graduate of the program, earned English college credits that he transferred to a liberal arts college in Ohio.
He and other graduates filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the attrition and retention rates of Academic Challenge participants. He said Delaware Tech could produce no studies on attrition or retention rates, and he used raw data to determine a 1.3 percent attrition rate for 2015-16 – two students total, and neither were seniors.
“Delaware Tech does a fantastic job at its core mission of workforce development, and career and technical education. However, it does not provide the same level of academic rigor as the University of Delaware,” Shortridge said. “A university operates at a higher level than a community college. That is not elitism, but a simple fact. Swapping out a UD course for a DelTech course is simply and clearly shortchanging Sussex County's Academic Challenge students. The UD courses are the capstone of this program, and add value far beyond an ordinary community college dual-enrollment program.”
Parents can save thousands of dollars on tuition costs, depending on how many credits their child earns through Academic Challenge. At UD, a single credit for the 2016-17 school year costs $481. A high school student who earns 27 credits through Academic Challenge and transfers them to UD would save nearly $13,000 – about half of a year's tuition.
Barends said she knows there are people against the change.
“I feel like there's been miscommunication,” she said. “My daughter is in the program, and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it.”
With about 150 students enrolled, Cape Henlopen School District has the most students of any Sussex County school district participating in Academic Challenge, according to Academic Challenge data.
Cape Henlopen School District budgeted $180,000 for the program in 2016-17, and the same amount has been budgeted for 2017-18. Barends said there is no difference in cost between a University of Delaware associates arts credit offered at Delaware Tech and Delaware Tech credit, so the cost to send students to Academic Challenge will not change.
Cape Henlopen school board Vice President Alison Myers said she is aware there could be changes to Academic Challenge, but the board has received nothing official from Delaware Tech.
“We haven't heard anything concrete, yet,” she said. “I have heard about breaking off from UD and expanding course selection with DelTech courses. The expansion sounded great, but I'm not sure why they would drop the UD classes.”
Even with UD credits, Myers said, there are issues with transferability to Ivy League and other universities. “It seems like universities don't want to accept transfer credits anymore,” she said.
Barends agrees that credits don't always transfer from University of Delaware to Ivy League or other top private universities, but many schools that accept UD credits also accept Delaware Tech credits. These include Temple, West Virginia University and Salisbury University, she said.
Cape school board President Andy Lewis has a son who earned UD credit that transferred to Neumann University, and Lewis supports keeping that option available for other students. “I wouldn't be in favor of it changing to only offer community college credits,” he said.
Barends said she has met with several Sussex County school districts about the change, and all have been supportive. She said she will meet with Cape Henlopen on Jan. 20.
“All the districts that I spoke with are fine with it,” she said. “But they needed to hear the information.”
