College, career readiness jumps at Decatur City Schools

May 15—The percentage of graduating seniors at Decatur City Schools who met state metrics for being ready for college or a career climbed from 61% to 91% over the last four years, a fact educators believe is in large part attributable to the 2018 opening of Career Academies of Decatur.

Shelton Cobb, career and technical education supervisor at Career Academies, was hired in February 2018 and said before Career Academies opened, several high school students told teachers they were unsure about their futures.

"Before we would see kids and ask them what they want to do and they would just say, 'I don't know,'" Cobb said. "Now, we're seeing kids say, 'This is what my plan is,' and it's good to see that."

Career Academies opened at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year and the percentage of seniors across the district who were college or career ready that year rose to 82%, up from 61% the previous year. In 2019-20 the percentage rose to 86% and last year, the most recent year in which the data has been collected, it rose to 91%.

During those four years, the percentage of Austin High students who were ready for college or career grew from 64% to 93%, and the Decatur High percentage grew from 58% to 92%.

The Alabama State Board of Education has set as a goal that every student graduates from high school with the knowledge and skills to succeed in post-high school education and the workforce without the need for remediation.

The state determines a school district's college and career readiness percentage based on the percentage of seniors passing at least one of six indicators:

—A benchmark score on any section of the ACT test that equates to a 50% chance of getting at least a B in that subject as a college freshman.

—A qualifying score on an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam.

—An approved college or postsecondary credit while in high school.

—A benchmark level on the ACT WorkKeys that equates to having core employability skills for 65% of jobs.

—Acceptance for enlistment into the military.

—An approved industry credential.

"When we started focusing on the credentials that students can earn within all of the academies that we offer ... it seemed to really increase" the percentage of students designated as college- or career-ready, said Angela Cushing, career counselor at Career Academies.

Cobb said the school district measures the readiness percentage of each graduating class. Every time a student passes one of the six indicators, the data is put into the student management system known as PowerSchool.

College and career readiness data can be found for any school system in the state on alabamaachieves.org by accessing the school report card tab under the "Families and Student" section.

Last year, Morgan County schools tested at 86.4% for college and career readiness, Hartselle City schools tested at 96.03%, Athens City schools tested at 75.44%, Limestone County schools tested at 81.3%, and Lawrence County schools tested at 66.3%.

"If a student earns a credential here at the academy, we have to enter that data into PowerSchool and then the College and Career Ready Dashboard that is operated by the state," Cobb said. "It keeps a running percentage of how our (school district) is doing and preparing our students."

Career Academies offers 12 courses and students can take dual enrollment classes through Calhoun Community College or J.F. Drake State Community & Technical College in Huntsville in welding, precision machining, auto technology, cosmetology, engineering and draft design, and barbering.

Cushing said she also believes implementing the OnToCollege ACT Test Prep last school year helped students meet benchmark scores on the ACT. There were 537 juniors who took the ACT during the 2020-21 school year.

"When we made that a focus, ACT scores did go up," Cushing said.

Cobb said there are currently over 700 students in Decatur who take classes at Career Academies and he expects that number to grow close to 1,000 next school year. He said the nation's focus on trade jobs is why enrollment will keep increasing.

"We had automotive and stuff before (Career Academies), but now there's such a focus on it and there's such a need for these skills and jobs," Cobb said. "There's so many opportunities for these kids now and I think students and parents are recognizing that."

Cobb said they are still collecting data for the current school year, but he thinks the college and career readiness percentage will have increased even more.

"We'll have a higher percentage of students than last year if we have the right number pass the credentialing test," Cobb said.

Cushing said students take their credentialing test at the end of the school year or "whenever they are ready" before that.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.