Invest in Instructors System-Wide for Dual Enrollment Student Success

The recent guidance report, published by the GoOpen National Network in partnership with the College in High School Alliance and ISKME, identifies the cost of instructional materials as a significant barrier to equitable participation in dual enrollment and offers eight policy recommendations for addressing that challenge through open educational resources (OER). Three of those recommendations share a common premise: expanding access to affordable materials requires investing in the people who select, adapt, teach with, and help students navigate them.

Together, these recommendations point to a broader opportunity for states to build human capacity across K-12 and higher education. And importantly, states can begin without creating new programs or making major new investments.

Access the full report: State Policy Guidance: A Roadmap to Strengthen Dual Enrollment Through Alignment, Affordability, and Open Educational Resources.

Support Faculty to Adopt and Adapt OER

Faculty choice regarding courseware is fundamental to the quality of college-level instruction. Rather than mandating OER, states can make it easier for instructors to voluntarily adopt and adapt high-quality open resources.

Many instructors are interested in OER but lack the time and support to find, evaluate, organize, or adapt materials for their courses. Dual enrollment adds another consideration: materials need to meet college expectations while working effectively in high school learning environments.

States have several ways to help. They can start at no cost by recognizing instructors already using OER and connecting them through existing professional networks. Modest investments can provide microgrants, stipends, instructional design support, or release time. Over time, states can establish sustained incentive programs that support OER adoption and adaptation across institutions and districts.

The goal is not simply to increase the number of open resources. It is to make it easier for instructors to choose and use high-quality materials that work for their students.

Build Professional Learning Across K-12 and Higher Education

Resources alone are not enough. Sustainable OER implementation also depends on the knowledge, relationships, and shared practices of the educators using them.

Professional learning communities can bring college faculty, dual enrollment instructors, instructional designers, librarians, and other educators together to identify effective resources, share adaptations, and better understand how courses operate across K-12 and higher education settings. This collaboration can strengthen both OER practice and instructional alignment.

Here again, states do not have to start by funding a new statewide initiative. OER and dual enrollment can be incorporated into existing conferences, professional networks, faculty development, and regional meetings. With additional investment, those connections can grow into structured cross-sector learning communities and statewide professional development.

Bring High School Librarians into the OER Conversation

High school librarians and media specialists may be among the most valuable and underutilized partners in dual enrollment.

They sit at a critical intersection of students, educators, instructional resources, research skills, and technology, making them natural OER connectors between high school and college. They can help educators identify and evaluate open resources while helping students navigate databases, digital platforms, research expectations, and the instructional materials they encounter in college-level courses.

States can begin simply by bringing librarians into existing OER and dual enrollment conversations and strengthening connections between high school and college libraries. Targeted training and regional collaboration can build their capacity to support OER and dual enrollment. Longer-term investments in staffing, certification pathways, and statewide library initiatives can ensure that this expertise is available where students need it most.

Start with the People Already in the System

These three recommendations do not require states to launch three separate initiatives. In fact, one of the clearest opportunities is to connect work that is already happening.

Faculty may already be creating or adapting OER. Professional networks may already bring educators together. Librarians may already be helping students bridge high school and college research environments. State and regional leaders can begin by identifying this expertise, connecting the people involved, and giving them greater opportunities to collaborate.

Investing in people can start small. But by supporting instructors, strengthening cross-sector professional learning, and recognizing librarians as essential partners, states can build the capacity needed to make affordable, adaptable instructional materials a sustainable part of dual enrollment and student success.