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Local communities will play a large part in helping Tennessee schools and students compete in the global economy, according to a Tennessee State Board of Education official.

Dr. Gary Nixon, executive director of the Tennessee State Board of Education, gave an updated presentation to Maryville Rotary Club members Thursday about the upcoming changes in Tennessee's K-12 programs.

Analysts project 67 percent of new jobs in 2010 will require some post-secondary education, said Nixon. According to the 2004 data he presented:

• 63 percent of Tennessee's students graduated on time;



• 39 percent of these students entered community college or university;



• 17 percent of these post-secondary students received a degree within six years.

Tennessee's students, however, are not doing a whole lot worse than the rest of the country, said Nixon. "We've outperformed 13 states (in preparing high students for college). The problem is 36 states are doing better than us," he said.

Only 18 percent of 2007 Tennessee graduates who took the ACT met the academic benchmarks in English, algebra, biology and social sciences, said Nixon. Only 23 percent of graduates met all four benchmarks nationally. Educators think students who meet or exceed these benchmarks will perform well in post-secondary institutions, he said.

Math, science weakness

While looking at the 2007 ACT test data, Nixon told Rotary members that science and math were the state's "Achilles' heel." Only 33 percent of Tennessee's 2007 graduates met the math benchmark score of 22, and 23 percent of graduates met the science benchmark score of 24, he said.

State officials have concluded from the 2007-2008 test data that early high school mathematics courses are not helping students. Data collected from the ACT's college readiness tests for eighth, ninth and 10th-graders showed a seven-percent drop in math proficiency levels between the ninth and 10th grade school year.

"If I had any doubts about whether I was doing the right thing with the (Tennessee) Diploma Project, this was one of the sets of data which confirmed it," said Nixon, referring to the new curriculum standards that will take effect when this year's eighth-graders enter high school. The diploma project seeks to align the state's school curriculum with other developed nations so Tennesseans can compete in the global economy.

Schools will be moving to a one-track curriculum, because educators have determined that career and technical jobs require almost the same amount of math and science courses.

"We just need to encourage kids to get involved in post-secondary education," said Nixon.

The diploma project will also hold K-12 and post-secondary institutions responsible for their students' success. "We've got to help students graduate. We need to support them so they can be successful," said Nixon.

Dirty little secrets

He also addressed "four dirty little secrets" that currently exist in school systems such as:

• Student learning is not made relevant to their technology-driven world;



• Many students do not know what effort is;



• Many students learn they do not have to do school work in middle school;

Students learn they will be promoted while performing below grade level.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to change the culture (of education) except to hold (schools and educators more) accountable," said Nixon.

A lot of the diploma project's success will depend on the community's culture and attitudes toward education and how local boards and superintendents react to the upcoming changes, he said.

Nixon also encouraged parents to evaluate their student's performance in relation to national testing standards. "Don't get false advertising and believe it," he said referring to report card grades. "When your students get tested, you need to get inside the data."