Pleasant Valley High School is known for providing excellent education offering students with both the resources and opportunities to learn and prepare for life after high school. One of those opportunities is taking dual credit classes offered through Scott Community College.
Classes offered at PV are intended to prepare students for post-high school plans. Whether a student is going to college, trade school, military, or entering a full-time job, there are classes designed to provide skills for any path.
Students planning to attend college have a unique opportunity at PV to take college-level courses and earn both high school and college credit. Many of the classes are taught on campus so students don’t have to leave the high school. From dual credit classes, students can earn college credit without taking an exam or paying to transfer the credit.
AP classes are also offered at PV, some with a similar dual credit option. However, the differences include the requirement of taking an AP test and earn a certain score to receive the credit. Teachers of dual credit classes also have higher education requirements than AP teachers. To teach dual credit classes, a teacher has to have a master’s degree in the subject area they are teaching—not just a master’s of education.
Area schools such as Bettendorf High School do not offer dual credit the way PV does. Lucas Shoemaker, a senior at Bettendorf, believes, “Dual credit is an awesome opportunity because it allows kids to get a head start on college.” Bettendorf only offers a few classes, so students who want more college credit often will graduate in January and attend Scott Community College full-time. By doing this, Bettendorf students have to pay for the classes as well as the textbooks.
Pleasant Valley is unique in sharing a campus with Scott Community College. This allows students who wish to take dual credit classes the option to travel to Scott if the class is not offered at PV. If the class is offered at PV, students can take the high school course first and then take it at Scott for free and earn both high school and college credit.
Unfortunately, 2018-2019 is the last year of this policy. PV will no longer pay for classes and textbooks at Scott Community College. This action fails to give excellent opportunities to every student who want to earn more college credit. With less dual credit options, students will be encouraged to take more AP classes—even though the credit doesn’t transfer to some schools for anything more than an elective.
The change in policy is the result of a lack of funding for dual credit classes by the State of Iowa. Currently, students pay $80 at the beginning of the school year for all textbooks used at PVHS. This payment is also expected to cover the textbooks for dual credit classes, but it fails to do so. “80 dollars is not even close to cutting it,” said Principal Mike Zimmer.
Some concurrent textbooks are upwards of $250 for just one class. During the 2018-2019 school year, a total of 37 students took 55 concurrent courses through Scott Community College. The textbook fee from high school registration does not cover the cost of current textbooks and the State of Iowa has not increased the funding to give students this unique opportunity.
Pleasant Valley should support students’ efforts to gain valuable college credit and seek to expand dual credit options on campus. Dual credit provides students a significant head start towards a college degree—especially for those who can intentionally pick courses that transfer to a school they have decided on.
