Accelerated Coursework Enablement Stack: Making dual enrollment a powerful momentum-builder
Overview
The Pathway Impact Fund’s work is guided by the Commission on Purposeful Pathways’ central report, A Launchpad for Life, a research-backed vision for purposeful pathways that move beyond a patchwork of programs and change outcomes for young people at scale.
These pathways weave together three core elements: high-quality advising, accelerated coursework and career-connected learning. This resource is designed to help communities move from understanding to action on accelerated coursework.
Accelerated coursework programs have a shared goal of supporting high school students to earn college credit or credentials. When done well, these programs also build confidence and provide momentum as students begin their college careers. But accelerated courses are often implemented in ways that lack coherence or sequencing, leading to disjointed student experiences that don’t lead to college credits or credentials they can benefit from. Additionally, accelerated coursework is often inaccessible to students because of GPA and testing requirements and financial cost. Studies show that when these barriers are removed, participation in dual enrollment improves outcomes for academically underperforming students, increasing their likelihood to enroll into postsecondary education.
Source: A Launchpad for Life: A Vision for Purposeful Pathways for All Students
This resource focuses on dual enrollment as a strategy for student success.
Why “enablement stacks”? Helping you move from understanding to action
In tech, a “stack” is the set of components that need to work together for something to function. We use the term to emphasize that the content here is most effective when used together, not as standalone tools.
The stack includes a cornerstone, diagnostic(s), metrics and inquiry guides to put it all together — plus supporting content to help you go deeper. Stacks are designed in this way to help coaches and facilitators drive learning and practice change in the field. The Pathways Impact Fund will organize its learning supports for partners around this structure.
Cornerstone: Define Quality
What does quality integration look like? We look beyond traditional approaches to new, improved practices that result in transformational results for young people.
The DEEP Framework
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2023
The DEEP Framework broadens the benefits of dual enrollment by taking a new approach where community colleges partner with middle and high schools to prepare students for postsecondary programs.
DiagnosticDiagnostic: Understand the Current State
To move forward, we have to understand where we’re starting from. These tools will help you gather and assess qualitative data to understand your community’s current state.
DEEP Scale of Adoption Assessment
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2024
This assessment is designed to help leaders assess the scale at which they’re implementing research-supported practices to improve dual enrollment access and outcomes. It can be used to benchmark current practices, see where additional changes are needed and drive conversation to identify new strategies.
Validated MetricsValidated Metrics: Measure Progress
Data helps with focusing efforts, spotting problems, and tracking improvements.
Measuring Purposeful Pathways: Measurement Action Guide
Commission on Purposeful Pathways
Last updated: 2026
This guide provides a robust set of student-centered metrics to inform decision-making, track progress and drive continuous improvement. Use this guide to explore and discuss what’s already being measured and where there are gaps. See page 10 for the metrics related to dual enrollment/accelerated coursework.
Evidence Based Practice: Accelerated Postsecondary Pathways
The Education-to-Workforce Framework
Last updated: 2024
This resource provides a list of outcomes, milestones and essential questions communities can use to evaluate the success of their accelerated postsecondary pathways.
Inquiry Protocol: Decide & Act
The “so what, now what”: where insights come together from the diagnostic and the data to inform choices about what to do next. This approach results in a plan for action plus an understanding of how to measure progress against that plan.
Essential Questions – Do Students Have Access To and Complete Rigorous and Accelerated College Preparatory Coursework?
The Education to Workforce Framework
Last updated: 2024
This resource provides questions that community and school district leaders can use to examine students’ access to and participation in challenging academic coursework to prepare them for success after high school.
DEEP: Discussion Questions for College Leaders to ask their K-12 Partners
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2023
Implementing strong accelerated coursework programs requires a trusted partnership and shared vision between colleges and K-12 leaders. This resource provides discussion questions to kickstart partnership and planning conversations.
The Dual Enrollment Playbook, Guide to Getting Started
Community College Research Center & Aspen Institute
Last updated: 2020
This guide outlines action steps that community college, district and high school leaders can take to strengthen the impact of their dual enrollment programs. It includes discussion questions for internal and partnership-wide meetings, suggestions for whom to invite to those conversations and recommendations for how to assess current practices.
Inquiry and Action Guide: Toward a Sustainable College Business Model for Scaling Purposeful Dual Enrollment
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2025
This guide offers action steps for college and dual enrollment program leaders who want to implement DEEP practices at scale with existing state and local funding.
Additional SupportsAdditional Supports
A collection of additional resources to fuel your work.
Dual Enrollment Playbook
Community College Research Center & Aspen Institute
Last updated: 2020
This playbook provides an overview of what strong dual enrollment looks like, with particular focus on the high school-college partnership.
Learning deck: Maximizing the potential of dual enrollment
Community College Research Center, Public Policy Institute of California and Career Ladders Project
Last updated: 2024
This resource offers an overview of the evidence behind dual enrollment and the open questions about how to make it most effective.
The Postsecondary Outcomes of High School Dual Enrollment Students: A National and State-by-State Analysis
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2024
Using National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data, this report presents national and state-by-state findings on the postsecondary enrollment and completion outcomes of high school students who began taking dual enrollment college courses in fall 2015, tracked up to four years after high school.
What Do Dual Enrollment Students Want? Elevating the Voices of Historically Underserved Students to Guide Reforms
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2024
This brief investigates the experiences of students historically underserved by dual enrollment to understand what these students want from dual enrollment programs and the educators who lead them.
College Business Models for Scaling Purposeful Dual Enrollment
Community College Research Center
Last updated: 2025
This report examines how community colleges and their K-12 partners are finding ways to allocate, align and sustain the resources needed to scale DEEP programs.
Accelerate ED Designathon Dual Enrollment resources
Education Strategy Group
Last updated: 2026
These three resources can be used independently or together to support practitioners and leaders in moving students from participation in dual enrollment to college enrollment.