Dual Credit Opportunities, a column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard

As summer comes to a close, kids are heading back to the classroom. In some homes, parents are sending their little ones to school for the first time. In others, the older kids know the first-day-of-school-drill and they’re counting down the days until they graduate. Then there are some homes that will be a little quieter this fall because someone is leaving for college or technical school.

Today, more than ever before, it’s important for young people to continue their education beyond K-12. Back when I was in school, about 17 percent of Americans had at least a bachelor’s degree. Today that number is around 32 percent. If you include those who have associate’s degrees, the number is 42 percent.

Work in every field is becoming more competitive. The escalating number of people earning degrees and the increasingly competitive global economy require today’s workforce to have greater skill sets and more education.

Though it’s never been more important for students to continue their education beyond high school, higher education has never been more expensive. That is why we’re offering more affordable dual credit opportunities this school year to all high school juniors and seniors.

Dual credit courses allow students to take a single course which earns credit towards both their high school diploma and also a postsecondary degree or certificate. Dual credit courses can save students hundreds – even thousands – of dollars in tuition costs.

Without dual credit arrangements, a high school student taking a university or technical school class for credit must pay the normal tuition rate – as much as $300 a credit for university, distance-based courses. To reduce this cost, we are combining state funds with discounts from the universities and technical schools, to make entry-level courses at the universities and technical institutes available to high school students for only $40 per credit.

Students can choose from a wide range of courses, from biology, composition and algebra, to computer programming, ag chemicals and welding. Some courses are offered on university or technical institute campuses, while others are online.

Dual credit courses help students gain understanding of what will be expected of them at the postsecondary level. Dual credit courses also give high school students a jump start on a post-secondary degree and an early opportunity to judge what they want to pursue, or don’t want to pursue, before they graduate.

I know dual credit is just one small part of preparing young people to enter the real world – much of that preparation will have to be done on their own. Still, I think it’ll bring many students one step closer to being college and career ready.

Visit sdmylife.com to learn more.

3 ingredients in the recipe for success: High quality standards, instruction and assessment

Secretary of Education Dr. Melody Schopp

Welcome to the South Dakota Department of Education’s new blog.

Across the state, classrooms and playgrounds are bustling with activity. I can’t help but get caught up in the excitement.

I remember fondly my time as a teacher. There’s nothing quite like the anticipation of “back to school”—making sure everything is just so, from the brightly decorated bulletin boards to the cozy reading corner and colorful name tags on desks waiting to be filled with students.

Now, part of my job is visiting schools and classrooms all over our state, meeting the administrators, teachers and staff who tirelessly dedicate themselves to South Dakota students. This part of my job never feels like work. It’s an honor.

Every day South Dakota educators prepare students for college, careers and life. This preparation starts with those wide-eyed little kindergartners and carries all the way through to high school seniors ready to take on the world.

That’s a high calling. So, how do they do it? Good teachers know that there are three components vital to providing a quality educational experience: high quality standards, high quality instruction and high quality assessment.

Standards explain what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.

With new standards in English language arts and math, South Dakota teachers are going further in-depth with their instruction, helping students achieve deeper levels of understanding and make connections between classroom learning and the outside world. This is important work that takes time.

In the spring, South Dakota students will be tested on the new ELA and math standards when they take the new Smarter Balanced assessment. This new assessment provides a much more meaningful picture of student performance than our previous test.

We know that Smarter Balanced test results will look different than Dakota STEP test scores. It’s important to remember, though, that the two tests should not be compared. They measure student proficiency on two different sets of standards, and there will be a period of adjustment as students become familiar with the new standards.

The standards in ELA and math have been raised, so Smarter Balanced test scores are likely to make it appear that student proficiency has dropped. This always happens with a new test. It does not mean students are performing poorly. It means that we are challenging students and preparing them for the rigors of postsecondary and careers in today’s world. And I am confident that, given time, South Dakota students will rise to the challenge.

Assessment is just one piece of the education puzzle. All the pieces—high quality standards, instruction and assessment—fit together and play a vital role in every student’s education.