Soon, students in Louisiana public schools will have 76 new opportunities to receive their high school diploma while also earning an associate degree or participating in a state registered apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship, according to a news release from the Louisiana Department of Education. The announcement of the 76 new Fast Forward pathways was made by members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) as well as the Board of Regents (Regents) at their biannual joint meeting in which they discuss education policy, share vital information, and vote on issues of mutual interest to both parties. These 76 newly-announced Fast Forward pathways are in addition to the dozens of pre-existing pathways that already exist for students at Louisiana high schools.
Dr. Cade Brumley, the State Superintendent of Education, commented on the 76 additional pathways by saying, “From cybersecurity to carpentry, these new pathways empower our students with opportunities to gain employable skills for the high-wage, high-demand jobs of today and tomorrow.”
Louisiana’s Fast Forward program is an opportunity for students to not only graduate high school but also get a head start on their post-secondary careers by finding out what career fields they enjoy and pair them with further education or state-registered pre-apprenticeship/apprenticeship opportunities. The program pairs traditional classroom learning with practical, technical, and career experience.
When enrolled in a Fast Forward program, students spend the majority of their 9th and 10th-grade years earning core graduation credits on their high school campus through traditional classroom teaching. Then, when students enter 11thand 12th-grade, enrolled students will be spending the majority of their time on either a postsecondary campus or at a satellite location while being dually enrolled in a course. The dual enrollment aspect of the program is designed to ensure that students will complete their high school graduation requirements while also earning an associate’s degreeor on-the-job experience in a state-registered pre-apprenticeship/apprenticeship.
Before announcing the new Fast Forward pathways or even approving them, they went through a rigorous review process. The pathways were reviewed by the Louisiana Department of Education, BESE, Regents, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and Louisiana Economic Development. Additionally, Career and Technical Educationsupervisors from both larger and smaller-scale school systems throughout the state of Louisiana were a part of the review process, since these pathways would take place within their districts.
The joint meeting between BESE and Regents also were able to brief the state’s two education boards on the progress that has been made in expanding Louisiana’s Dual Enrollment programs. The expansion of Dual Enrollmentin the state is vital to meeting Regents and BESE’s joint goal of all students graduating high school with college credit,a post-secondary credential of value, or both. The joint goal is set to be achieved beginning with the class of 2029.
Alongside the announcement of the new Fast Forward pathways, the state’s education boards also announced the following information at the joint meeting. There was a 3% increase in high school students enrolling in college courses in the 2020-2021 school year as well as an increase in the number of students participating in dual enrollment programs and graduating with either a college credit or an industry credential. In fact, in the 2019-2020 school year, 52% of high school students had graduated with a college credit or an industry credential, which is an improvement from the 51% of students in 2018-2019.
Dr. Kim Hunter Reed, the Commissioner of Higher Education, said the following at the joint meeting, “today we acknowledged the significant work that has been accomplished in Louisiana over the last few years to expand college opportunities for high school students, giving them a clear pathway to prosperity. Our collective success rests on our ability to effectively align policies, resources, and accountability to accelerate access to academic and technical early college options for all high school students in our state. Equity in these opportunities is critical.”
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