Next year, Rolling Meadows High School (RMHS) will be introducing new classes with transferable college credit.
“Before, we didn’t have any dual credits in the core [subjects], so we have dual credit opportunities in, say, our Prostart students,” Principal Eileen Hart said. “This is an expansion of the dual credit classes we already have, just expanding into the core.”
These classes are based on a concept known as “The Power of 15.” This concept is founded on research that shows high school students who enroll in college with 15 or more college credits makes them twice as likely to complete their post-secondary education.
The purpose of the Power of 15 classes is to help students to enroll in college with 15 total credits, thus increasing the probability of their success in college.
As of now, Rolling Meadows will be offering six Power of 15 classes next year. They will include classes for english, art, science and math. Currently, there are no plans to implement any Power of 15 courses for the social sciences.
Unlike Advanced Placement classes, Power of 15 classes do not require students to take a test at the end of the year to receive credit.
While Power of 15 classes share similarities with AP courses, Power of 15 classes typically grant only three credits upon completion. With AP classes, students have the potential to earn up to six credits. However, the amount of credits earned for AP classes often varies depending on which college the student attends.
Senior Diana Balint explains that she would have been interested in taking a Power of 15 class if it had already been implemented this year. “I would [take one of the Power of 15 classes], because I would rather focus on my core science classes in college,” Balint said. “If I got the dual credit, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the English requirement, which would allow me to take classes I would enjoy much
more than Freshman English or its equivalent.” Hart explains how Power of 15 credit is transferred to other
universities. “The dual credit will then be transcripted through Harper, so if you
went to Harper or another school it would be transcripted like an AP class,” Hart said.
Two English courses which will be offered are English Composition 101 and College Speech Communication. English Composition will fulfill an English graduation requirement, and a student must have at least a score of 19 on the English portion of the ACT and at least a 20 on the Reading section in order to enroll.
On the other hand, Speech Communication is only considered an elective and will not fulfill a requirement, but both classes will grant the same amount of college credit.
The math division offers one Power of 15 class, entitled Math 103. Harper offers a lower-level class called Math 101. Math/Science Division Head Robert Bowers described what they entail.
“There’s Harper’s class, Math 101, which is a math applications course,” Bowers said. “[It covers] all of statistics and how you apply mathematics in everyday life. The other [course] is College Algebra, which is essentially our 70s level Pre-Calculus course.”
In science, there is only one new class available, Physical Science. This course already existed at Harper, and now it will be offered at Rolling Meadows next year.
Bowers has positive expectations for this new course.
“What [Physical Science] really offers is an opportunity for our students to take another science elective that is not an AP class . . . This is nice that [RMHS] offers a course in physical science which focuses on chemistry and physics topics,” Bowers said.
However, these classes are considered college-level courses. While Power of 15 classes are a new element added into the curriculum, teachers and staff see these courses as positively influencing students by giving them more classes to choose from. English teacher and Division Head Mary Luckritz is in favor of Rolling Meadows offering these courses.
“Anything that allows our students more opportunity, I’m for,” Luckritz said.