Too few Tennessee college students earn postsecondary levels, report warns

Tennessee’s training system should do extra to assist minority and economically deprived college students earn postsecondary levels as a way to meet the state’s workforce wants, a report by an training coverage and advocacy group warned.

The State Collaborative on Reforming Schooling’s 2024 report, launched on the Nationwide Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, lauded Tennessee college students’ total progress on standardized exams because the pandemic, and a rebound within the variety of college students attending faculty throughout that point. However the group famous that fewer college students have been ending faculty inside six years of graduating highschool.

For instance, solely 26% of the scholars who entered highschool in 2012 had earned levels by the summer time of 2022, the report stated. Inside that group, 30% have been white, 16% have been Hispanic, 15% have been Black and 37% recognized as different.

“This is among the most necessary knowledge factors within the report,” stated David Mansouri, CEO of SCORE. “We all know that the present pipeline, from Ok-12 to postsecondary training, and into the job market, is damaged, and we’re dropping too many Tennesseans alongside the best way who need and deserve higher alternatives.”

These numbers additionally don’t bode effectively in a state the place solely 56 staff can be found for each 100 jobs, in accordance with the report, and the place 70% p.c of enterprise leaders say there usually are not sufficient skilled staff to fill a lot of these jobs.

“To arrange Tennesseans for jobs enabling financial independence, the training system should higher align and reply to the labor market,” the report stated. “Tennesseans with postsecondary coaching valued by employers qualify for a bigger portion of the state’s jobs, present larger resilience within the job market throughout financial downturns and expertise larger earnings all through their lifetime.”

To deal with the issue, SCORE recommends strengthening current insurance policies such because the Tennessee Promise program, which offers tuition help for college kids to attend neighborhood or technical faculties. SCORE stated this system doesn’t go far sufficient to assist college students full faculty, noting that solely one-third of Tennessee Promise college students earn a level in six years.

It additionally recommends constructing simpler pathways between training and careers, equivalent to offering clear info on which credentials and levels are required for sure careers. And it requires making certain that Ok-12 training helps and meets scholar wants — for instance, by discovering extra extremely efficient lecturers for Tennessee’s low-income college students and college students of coloration.

Bureau Chief Tonyaa Weathersbee oversees Chalkbeat Tennessee’s training protection. Attain her at tweathersbee@chalkbeat.org.