Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced that the 2017-18 high school graduation rate held steady at 89.1 percent, which is the highest graduation rate on record for Tennessee. This year, more than 56 percent of districts with high schools saw their graduation rates improve when compared to last year’s rates.
According to Commissioner McQueen, “Our schools and districts should be proud that once again we have hit our state’s highest graduation rate on record while still holding our students to high expectations. By continuing to raise the expectations, we are signaling that Tennessee students are leaving high school with the knowledge and skills to be successful in college and the workforce. This graduation rate is a testament to the work being done by teachers and students in schools across the state.”
Under the Haslam administration, Tennessee has set high expectations for both students and educators, and students have made significant gains as a result. As part of this work, the state transitioned to a more rigorous calculation for graduation rates in 2011, and even under the new criteria, rates have continued to rise.
Additionally, the state raised the bar for graduation expectations when the State Board of Education included participation in the ACT or SAT as a graduation requirement for Tennessee students. This year’s results are the first to reflect this change in accountability.
Cannon County Director of Schools William F. Curtis stated, “Cannon County High School’s Graduation Rate is 89.8%. We are above the 89.1% – the average of all high schools, which is the highest graduation rate on record for Tennessee. Many of our subgroups were over 90%, but we have much work to be done to get to the ultimate goal of 100%. We set as a goal each year to be over 90%, but our goal is for EVERY student that starts as a Freshman at Cannon County High School to graduate and be prepared for their future though post-secondary opportunities. We desire to be ‘Engaged in Excellence Every Day.’ Excellence would be 100% of all students would graduate and go onto other post-secondary educational opportunities. That is our goal to have all our students as TN Ready Graduates.”
