JUMPSTART: A California Roadmap for Equitable Dual Enrollment Policy & Practice - Strategies for Racial Equity

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

JUMPSTART lays out an equity-focused roadmap to expand dual enrollment in California by ensuring Black, Latinx, and Native American students have real access to college-level coursework while still in high school. It identifies how pandemic-era recovery funding can be leveraged to target communities most impacted, and specifies coordinated priorities for statewide leaders, education agencies, local education agencies, community college districts, recruitment, partnerships, and measurable statewide goals. The plan emphasizes data collection, transparency, and actionable reporting to close racial equity gaps in enrollment, participation, and success.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

JUMPSTART: A California Roadmap for Equitable Dual Enrollment Policy & Practice

Vision, goals, partnerships, and recruitment

Statewide task force and resource dissemination

Local implementation: LCAP, credit recovery, and student success initiatives

Statewide dual enrollment goals and transparency requirements

Cradle-to-Career data availability and local guidance

Data-sharing agreements and continuous program evaluation

JUMPSTART: A California Roadmap for Equitable Dual Enrollment Policy & Practice Dual enrollment can tangibly advance racial equity for California students. By taking college-level courses while still in high school, students can jumpstart their paths to college and graduation. However, dual enrollment has an equity problem: few community colleges and high schools enroll Black, Latinx, and Native American students in these courses. This disparity not only limits the potential of dual enrollment to expand college access and success for these marginalized students but also perpetuates the systemic inequalities they already experience – many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current influx of state and federal resources to address recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic provides California with a clear window of opportunity to establish policies and practices that will strengthen dual enrollment offerings in the state. Leveraging pandemic-related funding to prioritize equity in dual enrollment will help ensure California’s recovery efforts target those most impacted. The Governor, legislature, California Department of Education (CDE), California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), Local Education Agencies (LEAs), and Community College Districts (CCD) should prioritize the success of Black, Latinx, and Native American students in their expansion of dual enrollment by focusing on the following priorities: State, K-12, and higher education leaders should: Define a vision that guides the strategic and equitable expansion of dual enrollment. Establish dual enrollment goals, engage in data collection, and evaluate the data to inform planning. Establish and strengthen partnerships between colleges and school districts and direct resources to ensure equitable program expansion. Engage in focused recruitment strategies to drive participation and success of students underrepresented in dual enrollment and higher education. Define a vision that guides the strategic and equitable expansion of dual enrollment. CDE and/or CCCCO ► The CDE and CCCCO should collaborate for racial equity in California’s dual enrollment programs by: ► Developing a state-level task force made up of CDE and CCCCO leaders, college and high school practitioners, researchers, and advocates to set a shared, equity-focused vision for dual enrollment and foster inter-agency collaboration ► Identifying challenges for equitably expanding dual enrollment and coordinating to develop solutions to challenges ► Collecting and disseminating dual enrollment resources, including successful field practices, via centralized public-facing platforms (e. g., websites, webinars, etc.) LEAs and CCDs ► CCDs should integrate dual enrollment within their existing student success goals and initiatives, particularly those goals and initiatives that target marginalized students (e. g., Vision for Success, Student Equity and Achievement Plan, Master Plan, Guided Pathways, etc. ) . ► LEAs should leverage dual enrollment to bolster college and career readiness by: ► Including dual enrollment equity strategies in their Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) college and career readiness goals ► Using dual enrollment as a credit recovery strategy so students in need of high school credits can simultaneously gain transferable college credits Establish dual enrollment goals, engage in data collection, and evaluate the data to inform planning. CDE and/or CCCCO ► The CDE and CCCCO should set statewide dual enrollment goals to eliminate racial equity gaps in access, participation, and success– particularly for Black, Latinx, and Native students. Goals should be: ► Ambitious and specific (e.g., disaggregated by race, gender, socioeconomic status, English Language Learner status, etc.) ► Quantifiable (e.g., base enrollments, units earned, course type, success rates, degree or certificate-based, etc.) ► Timebound (e.g.,

FAQs

Why does the roadmap focus on equity in California dual enrollment?

Dual enrollment can advance racial equity by allowing students to take college-level courses in high school, but current participation is uneven for Black, Latinx, and Native American students. This limits access, success, and can reinforce systemic inequalities.

What roles are assigned to state and education agencies?

CDE and CCCCO are directed to collaborate, create a state-level task force, identify inequity challenges and solutions, and centralize dual enrollment resources through public platforms. They are also tasked with setting statewide goals to eliminate equity gaps.

How should local education agencies and community college districts use data?

LEAs and CCDs should establish data-sharing agreements to standardize information on student access, persistence, and success. They should evaluate programs during and after each term, equip counselors and instructors with real-time data, and track publicly reported progress toward local goals.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor