| The Washington State Legislature passed the "Learning by Choice" Law in 1990, which created, among other choices for students, the Running Start Option. Running Start allows qualified high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take college courses at local community, technical, state and regional colleges and universities, thereby earning simultaneous credit at both their high school and community college, technical school, or university.; Washington is one of forty-eight states that currently provide a dual enrollment opportunity to students that allows them to earn high school and college credit simultaneously through local community or technical colleges while still in high school. In 1992--1993, during the first year that the program was offered statewide, the level of participation in Running Start numbered 3,350 students. In 2003--2004, the level of participation in Running Start was 15,610 individual students, equal to 9,532 fulltime students. The level of participation in Running Start has grown by about 5 percent a year, or equal to the growth of the enrollment of juniors and seniors in the state (State Board Annual Progress Report, 2004).; This research is presented as a policy study of the Running Start Program in Washington State. The policy study focused on three sections. The first section identifies the population of Washington State 11th and 12th graders, for the purpose of comparing to the sample drawn from Chelan and Douglas Counties 11th and 12th graders. The second part of the first section compares the population of Washington State Running Start participants and participants at regional colleges, to the sample drawn from Chelan and Douglas County Running Start participants. The comparison of both purposes was determined to be representative. The second section of this policy study examines how a student's perception of his or her affiliation to his or her high school relates to the choice to participate or not to participate in Running Start. The study concluded that the greater the connection students feel toward their affiliation to high school, the more likely they are to not participate in Running Start. Conversely, the more disconnected students are toward their affiliation to their high school activities, teachers, and the relevance of schoolwork, the more likely they are to participate in Running Start. The third section examines the considerations that are identified for the reasons why participants value their participation in Running Start. In order of importance, family economic, personal economic, and personal academic considerations were identified by Running Start participants. This study concludes with recommendations for further study and recommendations for professional practice relative to the State of Washington's Running Start Program. |
