Teaching Dual Enrollment Students: A Micro-Credential For Instructor Preparation & Success

What Is Micro-Credentialing?

A micro-credential is a short, competency-based recognition that allows an educator to demonstrate mastery in a particular area. 

Overview

This micro-credential prepares instructors to teach dual-enrollment students effectively while maintaining college-level rigor and academic standards. Through six evidence-based sessions, participants examine the dual-enrollment student experience, including developmental readiness, structural differences between high school and college, and the unique challenges students face as they navigate both environments simultaneously.

Instructors explore what college-level rigor means for adolescent learners, how cognitive and psychosocial development influence learning and behavior, and how to design courses that make expectations explicit without lowering standards. The micro-credential emphasizes a highly structured course design, inclusive pedagogy for mixed-status classrooms, and developmentally appropriate approaches to academic integrity that focus on skill-building rather than punitive enforcement.

Instructors also develop strategies to communicate effectively with dual-enrollment students and, when appropriate, their families, balancing care, clarity, and professional boundaries within FERPA requirements. Emphasis is placed on setting expectations, responding to family inquiries, and navigating the shared responsibility between secondary and postsecondary systems.

By the end of the micro-credential, instructors are prepared to design transparent, rigorous, and supportive learning environments that promote readiness, confidence, and long-term student success among dual-enrollment learners. This micro-credential is designed for higher education instructors and credentialed high school teachers who teach college-level courses through dual-enrollment programs.

Learning Objectives

By completing this micro-credential, instructors will be able to:

• Explain the dual-enrollment student experience, including developmental readiness and the differences between high school and college learning environments
• Apply cognitive and psychosocial development principles to instructional and classroom practices for adolescent learners
• Define and maintain college-level rigor while making academic expectations clear and transparent 
• Design highly structured courses that support readiness, persistence, and skill development without lowering standards
• Use inclusive pedagogical strategies to support mixed-status classrooms with varied levels of preparation
• Address academic integrity using developmentally appropriate, skill-building approaches
• Communicate effectively with dual-enrollment students and, when appropriate, their families while maintaining FERPA-compliant boundaries
• Navigate shared responsibilities between secondary and postsecondary systems with clarity and professionalism