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Provide advanced curricular opportunities in Arkansas high schools, helping such schools meet the new federal requirements for enhanced academic rigor. For the first time in American education the federal government has plans on rating the academic rigor of the nation’s 18,000 high schools. The AECHS provides students access to the higher education state core, and really advanced students may even pursue an AA Degree. This rigorous curriculum should meet and exceed the new federal requirements for a rigorous high school curriculum.Arkansas has in place a world class distance education network, and has provided distance education equipment grants to every school district in the state. This substantial investment by state government needs to be utilized wisely so that we may get the most out of our investment. Utilization of the state network to provide student’s access to the AECHS will have a long-term positive effect in Arkansas because of the increased access to post-secondary educational opportunities. Increased educational opportunities will result in more citizens attending college and in turn will increase the overall education attainment level of the citizens of Arkansas. The education attainment level of the citizens of a state is directly related to the overall quality of life, and to the overall economic conditions of the state.Increase the number of Arkansas citizens with a post-secondary degree by providing educational opportunities to all students.Address the college remediation and college retention problem.Address grade inflation problem.Provide a cost effective way to offer the required Advanced Placement (AP) courses and provide an additional incentive for students to enroll in AP courses. Seven AP courses are embedded in the AECHS course offerings.Eliminates the duplication of high school advanced courses and college core courses.Address “Senoritis”: many of our most talented students complete graduation requirements by the end of their junior year, and then spend most of their senior year in non-challenging academic courses.Address the teacher shortage problem: Students who take advantage of this opportunity can complete the state core curriculum during their high school years which will enable them to complete college more quickly and it will also enable them to more quickly access the STAR Scholarship. |