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For Immediate Release
May 14, 2009
For more information contact:
Bonny Millard, Executive Director, Blount Education Initiative
(865) 273-1210 or (865) 789-6007, bonny@blounteducation.org
www.blounteducation.org
Other Media Contacts:
Amy Schwinge, (865) 982-6626 or amy@marybethwest.com
Mary Beth West, (865) 982-6626 or mb@marybethwest.com
New Blount Education Initiative (BEI) Research Exposes Disconnect Between High School Seniors’ and Community’s Perceptions of Educational Importance
Survey Validates Parents Play Lead Role in Influencing Students to Graduate from High School
Maryville, Tenn. — When it comes to attitudes about valuing education, high school seniors throughout Blount County’s three school systems may be setting a better example than the larger adult community.
When comparing the results of a survey this month of seniors at the four high schools (Alcoa, Heritage, Maryville and William Blount) in Blount County’s three school systems to Blount Education Initiative’s (BEI) April 2009 survey results of Blount County adult residents, BEI reports that high school seniors agreed more strongly with the importance of graduating from high school than did members of the community at large.
In fact, high school students’ level of agreement with several key statements supporting education beat the general Blount County public’s level of agreement by one-half to more than 2.5 rating points each.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning “do not agree at all” and 10 meaning “completely agree,” both surveys asked respondents to rank their level of agreement with several statements regarding educational attainment.
Students ranked their level of agreement on the 1 to 10 scale to the statements as follows:
1. “It’s important to have a high school education.” (9.65 out of 10)
• Blount County adults ranked this statement with a 7.0 level of agreement, only two points above a 5 as a neutral score.
2. “Education should be a top priority in Blount County.” (8.98 out of 10)
• Blount County adults ranked this statement a 7.4.
3. “It’s important to have a college education.” (8.26 out of 10)
• Blount County adults ranked this statement a 6.9.
4. “It’s important to have job training after high school.” (8.01 out of 10)
• Blount County adults ranked this statement a 7.4.
“While BEI is thrilled that seniors from our four high schools widely agree with the importance of graduating from high school, it’s a real eye-opener to the larger Blount County community that many adults – people of possible influence in a student’s life – may not be setting a strong enough example themselves about the value of education,” said BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard.
“We’re talking about a 2.65-point discrepancy in the level of agreement between high school seniors and adults on the importance of graduating from high school – which is the most fundamental level of educational attainment every person should have when starting out in today’s society,” Millard said. “The comparison of the student survey to the community survey demonstrates a need for the overall Blount community to grasp the importance of graduating from high school and its link to having a better overall quality of life.”
The student survey results also validated the vital role that parents and grandparents play in influencing a
child to graduate from high school. When asked “Who influenced you the most in your decision to complete high school?” 75 percent of the students surveyed ranked parents as the most influential with 8 percent of students saying grandparents were the most influential.
“Young people look to their families, particularly their parents, to set the example and the expectation about education,” Millard said. “Our data in the high school student survey bears that out.”
“BEI wants everyone in Blount County to realize the importance of getting a high school education as a pivotal foundation for a better quality of life,” said BEI President Mark Cate. “This student survey proves just how critical of a role parents and even grandparents play in influencing a child to graduate from high school.”
“Who influenced you the most in your decision to complete high school?”
1. Parents (75 percent)
2. Other (21 percent)
3. Grandparents (8 percent)
4. Teachers (7 percent)
5. Guidance Counselors (3 percent)
Note: total does not equal 100 percent, because some students chose more than one answer on this question.
When students were asked to rate their level of interest in staying in Blount County after high school or moving back after completing college or other training, 60 percent of the graduating seniors said they were either somewhat interested or very interested in either staying or moving back to Blount County.
School officials from the four high schools in Blount County (Alcoa, Heritage, Maryville and William Blount) estimate approximately 65 percent of graduating students plan to attend college in 2009, 43 percent will receive some type of scholarship (academic, athletic, merit, need-based, etc.) and 43 percent plan to utilize the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship.
ABOUT BLOUNT EDUCATION INITIATIVE:
The Blount Education Initiative’s (BEI) mission is to make education the Blount County community’s top priority by developing a sustained public awareness campaign focusing on the critical issues related to education, supporting local schools in their efforts to provide a top-notch education for all students and serving as a bridge between the educational community and businesses to develop meaningful collaborations. Achieving consensus about education’s vital importance, and what forms of support are required to achieve educational excellence, requires an organized, concerted campaign involving information exchange, dialogue, learning and persuasion. That’s why BEI exists – to facilitate this process. For more information, visit www.blounteducation.org
METHODOLOGY FOR BEI SURVEYS IN 2009:
Each of the four high schools in Blount County (Alcoa, Heritage, Maryville and William Blount) asked graduating seniors to complete a one-page written survey for BEI in April and May 2009. A total of 709 surveys were completed and returned to BEI. The survey data was not weighted.
The 2009 BEI community survey was conducted by telephone in a random digit dial sample of adult residents in Blount County, Tenn. The survey was conducted from January 14-26, 2009, with 845 interviews completed for an overall margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval. The average length of each telephone interview was 14 minutes and 26 seconds. The survey data was weighted to bring age and geographic concentrations in line with Community Population Survey projections for the city of Alcoa, city of Maryville, and the rest of Blount County.
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