Rapid Changes in Teaching and Learning: The Response of Teachers and Students in Dual Credit Courses to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

Dual credit programs let high school students take college courses and earn both high school and college credit, reducing cost and improving preparation. This policy brief studies Hawaiʻi’s dual credit transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic using state longitudinal data (2018–2021), instructor and coordinator surveys, and focus groups. Before spring 2020, offerings and enrollment grew, then declined during 2020, but recovered by spring 2021 with mixed enrollment and success effects by gender, Title I status, and rurality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Key Findings

Dual Enrollment Transition to Online Learning

Overall Response to the Transition to Online Learning in Dual Credit Courses

RTI Press ® Policy Brief ISSN 2378-7937 November 2023 Rapid Changes in Teaching and Learning: The Response of Teachers and Students in Dual Credit Courses to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic Elizabeth J. Glennie and W. Zach Smith Introduction In dual credit or dual enrollment programs, high school students can take college classes and simultaneously earn both high school and college credit. Taking college classes in high school prepares students academically for college work, and earning college credits in high school may reduce college costs. Nationally, dual credit participation in public 4-year institutions more than tripled from 1995 to 2015 (from 72,000 to 220,000 students).1 As of spring 2012, only 8% of students took dual credit classes online; most students took these courses at their own high school.2 Past research concerning online learning shows that schools—particularly high schools—had increased their offerings of online learning courses prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.3 However, studies Key Findings • Before spring 2020, dual credit course offerings and enrollment had been increasing in Hawaiʻi, but both offerings and enrollment declined from spring 2020 to fall 2020. • However, course offerings recovered by spring 2021, and student enrollment numbers were higher than they had been in spring 2019. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause long-term damage to this educational program. • In terms of enrollment, male students suffered more from the rapid switch to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic than female students. • Students succeed in earning dual credit by earning at least a C grade. During the transition to online learning, most groups of students did not experience a statistically significant decline in their dual credit success rates from spring 2019 to spring 2020. • Male students and those in Title I schools had statistically significant declines in course success rates from spring 2019 to spring 2020; however, both groups then had a statistically significant positive increase in success from spring 2020 to spring 2021. • Students in rural schools had a statistically significant decline in success rate from spring 2019 to spring 2020, and although their success rate increased from spring 2020 to spring 2021, this increase was not statistically significant. of the outcomes of online learning have been mixed with some finding higher grades in online classes while others find lower grades in online classes.4 RTI Press Publication No. PB-0027-2311 . Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press. [https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2023.pb.0027.2311](https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2023.pb.0027.2311) Dual Enrollment Transition to Online Learning However, in spring of 2020, educators and students across the world had to rapidly transition to online learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the abrupt shift of millions of students and teachers to online learning meant that students and instructors struggled if they did not have access to up-to-date computers, broadband internet, or skills needed to conduct online classes effectively or to succeed when taking these courses. For students in dual credit programs, this shift was particularly complicated because they simultaneously held status and responsibilities as high school and college students. This brief examines the transition to online learning for the dual credit program in Hawaiʻi, which had expanded dramatically in the decade before COVID-19. For the class of 2011, only 5% of those who finished public high school had graduated with dual credit. For the class of 2019, 22% did.5 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, all dual credit classes met at the students’high schools, and all had to rapidly switch to online learning in spring 2020. For the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi, RTI evaluated this rapid transition to online learning. RTI’s multi-method analysis i

FAQs

What is a dual credit or dual enrollment program?

Dual credit programs allow high school students to take college courses and earn both high school and college credit. The model supports academic preparation and can reduce college costs.

How did Hawaiʻi’s dual credit offerings and enrollment change after the pandemic began?

Offerings and enrollment increased before spring 2020, then declined from spring 2020 to fall 2020. Offerings recovered by spring 2021, and overall enrollment was higher than in spring 2019.

Did student success in earning dual credit decline during the switch to online learning?

Students generally succeeded by earning at least a C grade. Most student groups did not show a statistically significant decline in dual credit success rates from spring 2019 to spring 2020, though some groups (including male students and those in Title I schools) showed significant declines followed by later gains.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah