How Shelby County schools fared

The Germantown Municipal School District’s single high school, Houston High, had the lowest rates of students requiring remedial courses in the municipal Shelby County districts.

Out of the 266 Houston graduates who enrolled in a public Tennessee college, which could include community college, just 18 percent of them needed a remedial math course, and 13 percent needed a remedial English class.

Several Shelby County Schools high schools had low numbers of students enrolling in a public Tennessee college, showing students may have enrolled elsewhere, in private school or not enrolled at all.

At Trezevant High, just 23 students enrolled in a public Tennessee school, and 87 percent of them needed another math class before they could earn college credit.

At Westwood High, just 20 students enrolled in a public in-state college. All of them needed math help when they got there.

Booker T. Washington High sent 35 students to an in-state public college, and 97 percent of them were required to take remedial math. Nearly 80 percent needed the remedial English course.

At Cordova High, a school that sent a larger number of kids to an in-state public college, 74 percent of the 238 students needed a basic math course. About 47 percent needed the additional English course.

White Station High, which has a strong optional program and is often a top choice for parents, sent 267 students to an in-state public college. Just over 40 percent of those students needed the extra math class, and 25 percent of them needed help in English, among the lowest rates in the county.

“It’s really disappointing,” Shelby County Schools board member Michelle Mckissack said of the data overall. “But it’s not completely shocking.”

Mckissack, who previously sat on a state-level parent advisory board, said college readiness is an issue that’s been at the forefront of education discussions across Tennessee for years.

The tougher standards the state implemented meant students’ Tnready test scores took a hit, but the goal of raising the bar is to address this issue of readiness, Mckissack said. Aggressive efforts to improve early literacy in SCS should also pay off with more students ready for college.

“It’s disheartening, but there is a plan in place to tackle the problem,” she said. “I really truly believe, as a district, that we are going to get this under control.”

‘Everyone has to own up to this’

Lundberg said if the state wants to ensure that it hits its goal to equip 55 percent of Tennesseans with a degree or certificate, there needs to be a hard look at what is going on in K-12 education and the state’s teacher training programs.

“Everyone has to own up to this that we have an issue,” Lundberg said. “Every district and every school. This is the type of data that every principal wants to see — how do we stack up.”

Reporters Jason Gonzales and Joel Ebert contributed to this report.

Reach Jennifer Pignolet at jennifer. pignolet@commercialappeal.com.