Blog | Getting Smart

The final installment of our four-part series with Britebound asks the questions most districts quietly avoid: where does your dual enrollment funding actually come from, and are you measuring what happens after a student leaves? This post explores how funding design can either anchor students to high school support systems or quietly pull them away, and why tracking participation numbers alone is no substitute for tracking persistence. If you are building or scaling a dual enrollment program, this one is worth the full read.

Ed Policy

The Creolization of Recognition

Guest Author

Sep 22, 2026

What if our recognition systems are still doing the quiet work of colonization, even when they claim inclusion? Simone Ravaioli of Instructure explores creolization as a generative framework for redesigning how we validate learning across cultural and epistemological borders. Drawing on thinkers like Tyson Yunkaporta and Serge Ravet, this piece challenges education leaders to move beyond Recognition of Prior Learning toward relational protocols that let different knowledge systems meet as equals. It is a critical read for anyone shaping the future of credentials, competency frameworks, or equitable recognition.

New Pathways

What Makes Dual Enrollment Actually Work: Robust Student & Family Support & Career Connection

Getting Smart Staff

Sep 21, 2026

The third installment in our four-part series with Britebound moves beyond course design to ask a harder question: who is responsible when a student struggles? This post makes the case that robust dual enrollment requires named staff, early drop windows, family scaffolding, and mentors who open doors to careers students have never had reason to imagine. For district leaders building or scaling concurrent enrollment programs, this is the support infrastructure blueprint you have been looking for.

Difference Making

Before Students Miss the Opportunity, Adults Miss the Signal

Guest Author

Sep 17, 2026

By: AJ Gutierrez Since 2021, U.S. public schools have lost about 1.18 million students. Projections indicate that enrollment will further decline by 2.7 million students by 2031. To better serve students, schools have an opportunity to better understand their…

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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