Mississippi: Early college high school and dual enrollment

Legislation recently signed by Governor Haley Barbour makes an interesting policy statement--it repeals sections 37-15-37 and 37-101-28, which relate to dual enrollment programs in the state. However, the same legislation calls for the state superintendent and postsecondary leaders to jointly "develop a comprehensive report and recommendations" for the 2012 legislature re: implementing and operating early college high schools, including recommendations on establishing a pilot early college high school program in Mississippi.

Here's hoping Mississippi looks closely at the North Carolina legislation that supports its early college high schools, which Tennessee modeled its early college legislation after several sessions ago, and which is highlighted in this summary of model state-level policy components. North Carolina is home to more early college high schools than any other state, and research suggests that the low-income and minority students in these programs have better attendance, behavior and achievement outcomes than their peers in traditional schools, as indicated in AIR research and a report highlighted in an earlier post.