The high-school graduation season is about to begin, so local newspapers are full of graduates' pictures and stories about valedictorians and salutatorians. The Hickman County Times of Centerville, Tenn., is taking that a few steps farther, with profiles of students with the five best grade-point averages in each of the county's two high schools, usually headlined with their ambitions—but this year it also did the sort of story that every newspaper could do but is rarely seen: a front-page piece reminding readers in the county 50 miles west of Nashville that most graduates don't continue their education in the year after they get their diplomas. (Click on chart for larger version)
About 55 percent of high-school graduates across Tennessee continue education in the next year, but only 40 percent of Hickman County graduates do. "That's slightly lower than what I would have expected," County School Supt. Jerry Nash told Times Editor Brad Martin.
Some return to school later. Rob Mitchell, a specialist at the Tennessee Career Center, told Martin, "A lot of these students go out of high school and don't do anything for three or four years before they realize, 'I've got to do something.'" Gary Fouts, student services coordinator at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Dickson, said people usually enroll there between the ages of 25 and 35.
The data show that 43.1 percent of the county's 274 high school graduates enrolled in an educational institution in the 16 months after graduation. Only 13.1 percent of those attended a four-year institution, while 51 percent attended a two-year institution. "I think we have the student capacity to go to college and be successful," Nash said. "I'm not sure the culture values it enough."
The workforce seems to require higher skills to earn good wages, but more than half of graduates are not attending higher education institutions, Martin writes. What can be done about it? Martin asked the school board last Monday to think about providing funding for four more guidance counselors pat the high schools. "Each entering class of freshmen would see one guidance counselor for all four years," Martin writes. Nash said the new guidance counselors would be beneficial, though he also said that he "could make good arguments for several other areas that need help."
A factor that often keeps people from continuing their education is the cost. Martin notes, "Gov. Bill Haslam has proposed the Tennessee Promise: that tuition be eliminated from all College of Applied Technology schools, as well as community colleges."
Rob Mitchell, specialist at the Tennesse Career Center, told Martin that when he speaks to senior classes, he asks them, "What is a high school diploma?" Inevitably, they don't know. He then explains that it is a document that means they have the ability to learn. "And when you leave here, that's when you go learn. When they walk across that stage, it's not the end; it's the beginning," he said. (Read more)
Some return to school later. Rob Mitchell, a specialist at the Tennessee Career Center, told Martin, "A lot of these students go out of high school and don't do anything for three or four years before they realize, 'I've got to do something.'" Gary Fouts, student services coordinator at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Dickson, said people usually enroll there between the ages of 25 and 35.
The data show that 43.1 percent of the county's 274 high school graduates enrolled in an educational institution in the 16 months after graduation. Only 13.1 percent of those attended a four-year institution, while 51 percent attended a two-year institution. "I think we have the student capacity to go to college and be successful," Nash said. "I'm not sure the culture values it enough."
The workforce seems to require higher skills to earn good wages, but more than half of graduates are not attending higher education institutions, Martin writes. What can be done about it? Martin asked the school board last Monday to think about providing funding for four more guidance counselors pat the high schools. "Each entering class of freshmen would see one guidance counselor for all four years," Martin writes. Nash said the new guidance counselors would be beneficial, though he also said that he "could make good arguments for several other areas that need help."
A factor that often keeps people from continuing their education is the cost. Martin notes, "Gov. Bill Haslam has proposed the Tennessee Promise: that tuition be eliminated from all College of Applied Technology schools, as well as community colleges."
Rob Mitchell, specialist at the Tennesse Career Center, told Martin that when he speaks to senior classes, he asks them, "What is a high school diploma?" Inevitably, they don't know. He then explains that it is a document that means they have the ability to learn. "And when you leave here, that's when you go learn. When they walk across that stage, it's not the end; it's the beginning," he said. (Read more)
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