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.”

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.

“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.