East Mississippi Graduation Analysis

The only community college to accept occupational degree students in Mississippi at this time is East Mississippi Community College. “First time students must submit an official high school transcript reflecting a Mississippi Occupational Diploma from an accredited high school. Occupational Diploma students must also present an approved portfolio. Along with these two pre-requisites, all students must also meet placement requirements, including ACT scores and other requirements as specified by academic and technical counseling.” ( Admission Requirements, East Mississippi Community College) The last alternative for special education students is the Certificate of Completion, which is highly obtained in Covington County by special education …show more content…
Although four different high school completion certificates or diplomas can be obtained by these students, most of these do not do the student any benefit other than documentation that he/she has completed high school. These students have very little options after high school if they are not able to receive one of the two diplomas that allow them to further their education. Special education students have four ways to go about exiting high school; however, each of these prospective plans has various negative aspects. First, the traditional diploma,as displayed in the graph, shows a dwindling twenty-eight percent of special education students who actually leave high school with a diploma. This number is low because of the difficulty explained earlier in the paper. Next, the career pathway option, which was not designed specifically for students with learning disabilities may be considered another option available to these students. The third option is the occupational diploma. Although it is labeled as a diploma, this exit option is not a path to further the student 's education at a college level. Because Mississippi has only one college in the entire state to accept occupational diplomas, special education students graduating from Mississippi high schools could only consider this route if they have not intention to continue their education on a college level. Lastly, is the certificate of completion. Although this is the most traveled route for Individualized Education Plan students, it is only documentation to demonstrate that these students attended high school through the twelfth grade. Shown in the graph above is the sixty-one percent of students who left high school in Mississippi with only this certificate. Although special education students have several options as they attend high school as far as class curriculum and high school completion or