The group was convened by the Blackboard Institute, a new research organization within education-solutions provider Blackboard Inc. It has called for a greater focus on expanding opportunities for dual enrolment in order to accelerate student progression.

The gathering, "Pipeline Matters Council: Improving K-20 Student Progression," included fifty education leaders representing a cross-section of leadership in education, government, and business. In attendance were superintendents, college presidents, chief technology administrators, business executives, and national policymakers.

"When our traditionally siloed interest groups come together to benefit the student, a constituency often sidelined in the education debate, there is potential for real education change", said Council participant Bill Flores, president of the University of Houston-Downtown. "Together we can help find ways to make the system more responsive to the student, rather than simply asking the student to be more responsive to the system", added Flores.

The group stressed the importance of educating policymakers on K-20 as a complex cycle of lifelong learning with many entry and exit points and multiple paths to student success - not just a linear progression from K-12 to higher education. In this dynamic model of learning, dual enrolment, electronic student portfolios, and early warning systems will play an important role according to participants. At the top of the list: dual enrolment as a universal option in every state.

In dual enrolment, higher education institutions partner with K-12 school districts - or community colleges partner with four-year institutions - to offer higher-level course work for dual credit, accelerating completion to a degree for motivated students and engaging learners who have lost interest in their current courses. Dual enrolment programs are growing nationally, according to the most recent study by the U.S. Department of Education.

Council participants identified a need to examine existing practice and mine data in order to develop actionable guidance on how to create successful dual enrolment programs - and to make those tools available to time-constrained and resource-limited leaders seeking to add dual enrolment offerings to their schools or systems.

To fill that gap, the Blackboard Institute will publish effective-practice studies on dual enrolment drawn from Blackboard's proximity to education practice and make them available on the Web to educators. The effective practices will assist educators on the ground and also inform the larger policy debate by bringing real responses to education's critical challenges to light and sharing them with those most directly involved.