2026 Early College Summit

Early colleges located on or near college campuses can leverage higher education assets in ways that extend beyond dual enrollment credit. This interactive session highlights a replicable partnership model between Fayetteville State University’s Intelligent Systems Lab and Cumberland County Schools designed to strengthen instructional rigor and college readiness. Participants will explore how faculty expertise, undergraduate mentorship, and research lab resources were activated through structured collaboration. Attendees will map their own partnership ecosystems and leave with practical strategies to build sustainable, campus-embedded collaborations that enhance student engagement and future-ready learning.

What does high-quality teaching and learning look like in an early college setting, and how do we move from vision to consistent practice? In this interactive session, participants will explore the Essential Practices Framework as a tool for clarifying and strengthening instruction that prepares students for postsecondary success. Through collaborative analysis and application, participants will engage with key components of the framework and examine how aligned tools—including a teacher self-assessment and classroom walkthrough tool—can support reflection, feedback, and continuous improvement. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for using these tools to build coherence across classrooms and support meaningful learning experiences for all students.

This session will share several of the core principles of the Early College model that address instructional practices for dual credit instructors as well as examples of student support that allow for the critical thinking required in those dual credit courses. The supports in these dual credit courses encourage the higher level thinking of metacognition while giving them students agency in their own learning. The session will also reference the book The Disengaged Teen by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, which addresses the crisis that “one of three students is highly engaged in school” (U.S. Census).