More Harford County high school graduates are immediately enrolling in college, according to statistics from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Information about the number of students concurrently enrolled in high school and Harford Community College, as well as how those courses are paid for, however, was not available.
Associate Superintendent Bill Lawrence presented the most recent statistics from the National Student Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization, to the Harford County Board of Education at its meeting Monday night.
The NSC collects statistics on college directory information, Lawrence explained to the board, for all counties in the state and for 93 percent of the country's post-secondary higher learning institutions. Because of the large amount of information the NSC collects each year, he added, the statistics are a year behind.
The Maryland State Department of Education has a contract with NSC to gather the information.
Presenting such statistics, Lawrence said, helps the school system measure the progress in achieving the school system's goals, such as preparing every student for postsecondary education success and keeping tabs to make sure they're successful in reaching them.
The North Harford High School magnet program was not included as part of the information, because those students are only in their second year of attendance, Lawrence said.
Grads enrolling in college
In the 2009-2010 school year, 67.1 percent of Harford's graduates immediately enrolled in college following high school. This was up 3 percentage points from the previous school year.
Concurrent enrollment
C. Milton Wright High School had the most students, 94, who were concurrently enrolled in high school as well as Harford Community College for the 2009-2010 school year. Bel Air was second with 92 students concurrently enrolled, and Joppatowne High School had the fewest number of students, with three.
Board member James Thornton asked why C. Milton's numbers were so high and Joppatowne's were so low. While Lawrence didn't have a specific reason, he did say the school system has been working with various school principals to promote concurrent enrollment.
Member Bob Frisch asked Lawrence how the HCC courses high school students enroll in are being paid for since they are credit courses.
Lawrence said the partnership between the school system and HCC was an "originally mutually agreed upon program" in which the student's families did not pay for the courses. He added that he isn't sure where the funds came from and if the school system paid for them, though he didn't believe so.
Superintendent Robert Tomback said Harford County Public Schools is working with HCC to provide even more concurrent courses in high school classrooms.
"We're committed to engaging in such a program," he said, adding that he is concerned with the number of opportunities available for students who wish to concurrently enroll in high school and the college.
Career clusters
Health and human services was by far the most popular career cluster, Lawrence said, with 1,370 2011 graduates on that path. He explained that a career cluster describes the subject of focus for the students, and the courses they take specifically designed for their area of interest. The reason health and human services is so popular is that it's the most broad cluster with the most popular majors, including education and world languages.
The student clearinghouse also measures "repeat business," Lawrence said, or the students who attend their first year of college and return for their second year. Statistics are also measured for students five years after graduation. Hopefully, he went on, that information will be available in the spring.
In other business during Monday night's board of education meeting:
Several high school sports teams were recognized as fall 2011 HCPS state and region interscholastic athletic champions and sportsmanship award winners.
Teams recognized were Fallston High School field hockey, North Harford High School field hockey, Aberdeen High School football, Bel Air High School golf, Havre de Grace and Fallston high schools boys soccer, C. Milton Wright girls soccer, Fallston High volleyball, Fallston High boys cross country, Patterson Mill High girls cross country, Havre de Grace High football, Bel Air High volleyball, North Harford boys soccer, Aberdeen field hockey and girls soccer and Edgewood High boys and girls cross country, as well as field hockey.