FAQ

Why is the Course Alignment Project important for South Carolina's students?

Improving the transition between high school and college is important for South Carolina secondary and postsecondary students in order for them to successfully navigate the transition from high school to postsecondary education institutions. The reality of the 21st century economy is that obtaining a postsecondary degree or career training is crucial for building a successful and prosperous future for each student as an individual and for the state as a whole. A cursory examination of the 2005 median annual earnings for South Carolina workers aged 25 or older with varying levels of education helps illustrate this point. According to the 2007 South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract, residents without a high school diploma earned $21,268. Those with a high school diploma and no college earned $30,316, 42% more than those with no diploma. Having earned an associate's degree led to a 71% increase in annual earnings over no high school diploma, to $36,348. Finally, residents with a bachelor's degree earned an average income of $48,724, nearly 130% more than those who did not earn a high school diploma.

Does this project meet a challenge in South Carolina's education system?

Yes. The challenge facing South Carolina today is that too many students are exiting the educational system too early. On measures of high school graduation, college enrollment, and degree attainment, South Carolina ranks at or near the bottom nationally. According to a recent report by Achieve, Inc., the state ranks lowest in the percentage of high school freshmen who graduate on time, second lowest on the percentage who immediately enter college, and second lowest on the percentage still enrolled in the sophomore year. Of 100 high school freshmen, 49 will graduate on time, 29 will immediately enter college, 20 will enroll for the sophomore year, and 13 will graduate from college on time. Improving the alignment between high school and postsecondary systems can improve retention and reduce remediation.

Why aren't more students making the transition into college from South Carolina's high schools?

Part of the problem is that many students are not prepared for postsecondary education. The state's population contains a larger than average proportion of first-generation college attenders and economically disadvantaged students. These students need an educational system carefully attuned to their specific needs and the challenges they present. One of the key elements for success in such a system is a high degree of careful alignment between high school and college so that students know what is expected, can prepare accordingly for those expectations, and can then succeed once they have addressed those expectations.

Has South Caroline taken any "first steps" toward solving the state's low high school graduation rate and improving student college readiness?

Yes. The state of South Carolina has already begun to take significant steps to address this challenge, including the passage of the Education and Economic Development Act of 2005, increasing high school graduation and college admissions requirements, improving academic standards, assessment, and accountability. These efforts and others have led to South Carolina's rank of No. 1 in the 2007 national report card, Quality Counts, published by Education Week. The South Carolina Course Alignment Project will build upon these efforts. The project is designed to encourage broad participation by South Carolina educators, both K-12 and postsecondary. This proactive approach, coupled with the Course Alignment Project's thorough scope of work, will serve the state's educational system, students and economy well.

Why is EPIC the best choice to manage the state's Course Alignment Project and produce the best possible outcomes for South Carolina?

EPIC is the best choice for several important reasons. The organization has more expertise conducting large-scale analyses of course documents than any other organization in the nation. For example, EPIC currently is the prime contractor for the Advanced Placement Course Audit. In this project, EPIC is responsible for reviewing 100,000 courses from all Advanced Placement courses in the world in 38 subject areas. No other organization approaches this level of capacity and expertise to conduct studies and projects that involve the analysis of classroom-based materials generally and, more specifically, materials used to determine the alignment between high school and college. EPIC has a wider network of postsecondary faculty available to serve as document reviewers than any other organization in the nation. Currently the organization has over 1,200 postsecondary faculty members under contract to perform content analyses of course syllabi and a pool of an additional 800 potential reviewers available as needed.

Key EPIC staff have organized and conducted more meetings that bring together high school and college faculty to work on alignment issues than any other organization in the nation. As part of Oregon's PASS project, key EPIC staff organized and facilitated dozens of meetings over seven years in support of this initiative. Nine national meetings involving over 400 university faculty members for the Standards for Success (S4S) research project followed this. Subsequently, EPIC staff have organized and facilitated at least 20 meeting designed to improve high school-to-college alignment for the College Board, the State of Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Education Agency, and numerous other state and national entities. Key EPIC staff are recognized as being national experts on how to improve high school-to-college alignment through a unique process of standard setting, usage of web-based tools to analyze course syllabi and other documents, pilot courses, and exemplary and benchmark materials that have been developed and employed exclusively by the organization.