With 90 percent of his dual-credit chemistry students receiving A’s and B’s on the ACS exam, Crown Point honors chemistry teacher Bryan Trippeer is concerned that despite his success, he may be ineligible to teach chemistry on Sept. 1, 2017.
He’s not alone. Indiana employs nearly 3,000 educators to instruct dual-credit classes in its high schools and hundreds of those teachers are in Northwest Indiana. The program saves families big bucks on college tuition and gives kids a jump-start on their college education. It also is fundamental to a high school’s accountability grade, as the state requires each high school to provide a minimum of two dual-credit classes and two Advanced Placement classes.
Nonetheless, the state has been building its college- and university-level instruction program on the backs of high school teachers. Now, the accreditor charged with validating that education has given notice to the universities partnering for dual credit that the high school teachers must meet college- and university-level instructor credentials.
The Higher Learning Commission, the nonprofit organization that accredits colleges and universities in Indiana and 18 other states, asserts this is not a new policy, but a clarification of a long-standing expectation. The clarification to its assumed practices indicates instructors must hold a master’s degree or higher in the discipline or subfield or a master’s degree or higher with a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline or subfield in which they teach.
It is more common among Indiana teachers who hold master’s degrees, to hold them in the areas of education or curriculum vs. English, biology, chemistry, etc., officials said.
The revelation that the policy will be enforced in 2017 is causing panic in Indiana high schools because the state eliminated the requirement for teachers to hold any sort of master’s degree in 1988. As veteran teachers from that era begin to retire, the pool of teachers with any sort of master’s degree is expected to dry up — and with them would go the dual-credit program.
“If the changes go into play as they are currently written, it would be completely devastating to Crown Point High School and the students and their parents,” said Robert McDermott, assistant principal at Crown Point High School. “We have a young staff. The average-age teachers are in their 20s and very few have a master’s degree or are working on a master’s. A majority of our teachers teaching dual credit do not have the requirements in the HLCs’ draft requirements.”
McDermott said his school issued 9,000 dual credits in the past year and his own daughter was able to graduate high school with more than 30 dual credits.
“It was awfully nice as a parent to know she had knocked out her first year of college at Crown Point High School,” McDermott said.
Highland High School has about 12 teachers approved to teach dual-credit classes, said Patrick Weil, principal. Weil said his staff is getting younger and has fewer teachers who have master’s degrees.
“My concern is, this will pull the rug out from underneath the program,” he said. “It was certainly short-sighted of the Higher Education Commission and the Department of Education.”
While Weil said he understands that colleges have required standards, “The state removed the requirement for teachers to achieve their master’s. That’s the nexus of the problem. There’s no incentive for teachers, under the current contract conditions, to earn their master’s.
“The incentive for teachers is a central issue. Who is going to spend $28,000 on a master’s in a content area if there is no give-back for it? They would be providing, on their backs, a free supply of instructors for the area colleges,” he said.
Weil’s position isn’t lost on Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz
“The principals and teachers are correct in expressing concern,” said Ritz. “In Indiana, we have de-incentivized master’s degrees. Indiana will have to take a hard look at what we have to do.”
The organization that accredits the dual credit partnerships between colleges and high schools in Indiana is anticipating fallout that might turn the focus on teacher growth.
“I think Indiana is going to have to invest heavily in developing its teacher pool,” said Adam Lowe, executive director for the National Alliance for Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships. “There will be some short-term loss in the scope of its dual-credit program. It is going to take some time to rebuild a supply of teachers with the credentials you need to teach the college course.”
Lowe said the HLC has raised the bar.
“The policy has gotten more prescriptive and clear in the last few years. The HLC previously had guidelines and those had words like ‘typically’ and ‘should.’ This policy change adopted this summer clearly stated the minimum credential is a master’s degree and a master’s degree plus 18 hours in a subject area. This was never in a written policy with such specificity until this summer.”
More Top Picks Bose Quietcomfort Ultra Vs Bose 700 Headphones
At Chesterton High School, the fear also rests in the pool of teachers.
“It’s going to be tough,” said James Goetz, assistant principal for instruction at Chesterton High School.
Chesterton offers 17 dual credit courses and Goetz frets over the school’s future ability to find qualified teachers for the dual credit courses.
“Our staff is getting younger and younger, which means our teachers with master’s degrees are retiring and there’s no longer a requirement for a master’s degree. It is unfortunate, because the ones that are going to suffer, once again as with most things, are the kids.”
In the eyes of the Higher Learning Commission, the issue is about credibility.
“The bottom line, if a student is going for college credit, they need to have appropriate rigor in that course,” said Barbara Gellman-Danley, president of the Higher Learning Commission. “Those best in a position to ensure the rigor takes place are faculty and hence the term faculty qualification. If you are on a campus, the faculty is the heart of any institution. Teachers are the heart of K through 12, but if they are teaching at the college level, we do not believe the students deserve anything less than college teaching.”
Crown Point’s Trippeer, with 20 years of teaching experience, said he holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in secondary education.
“For me to teach dual credit, I would have to obtain 18 credit hours in my subject area. This is going to cost money. I’ve already paid for one (master’s degree),” he said. “If there’s a grandfather clause built in, that would solve the problem. If that’s not the case, there will be a lot of teachers who have been successful who will not be able to teach (dual credit) anymore.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.