The Unseen Students Left Behind: Why Mississippi Needs More Occupational Diplomas
By Sydney Heath
Damien was always a hard worker and respectful in class. At 14, he was nearly three years older than his classmates and towered over them. Even though he repeated 6th grade last year, Damien found it impossible to read vocabulary words like “preliminary,” “boisterous,” and “equivalent,” which the other kids in his class read quickly. Despite his best efforts and the help of his teachers, Damien had a hard time envisioning graduating from high school or even getting through the year.
Damien’s teachers and I knew that his IQ of 68 indicated cognitive challenges. We also knew that Damien had superior practical abilities, often called ‘real-world knowledge’ or ‘street-smarts.’ With the help of his uncle, Damien learned how to weld, and his dreams of pursuing welding as a career bloomed. Even though he had high adaptive skills in real-world situations, like being able to learn a trade and navigate the school and community independently, those skills did not help bridge the gap Damien had in cognitive abilities, preventing him from passing general education courses, exams, and dreaded state tests. As Damien’s inclusion teacher, I worked with him for three hours daily on reading and math. Although he had trouble reading and writing, he listened well and comprehended spoken content. Even so, Damien needed a lot of individualized and special support to participate in grade-level work, such as someone reading aloud test directions, questions, and answer choices. Other accommodations to help Damien learn included shortened assignments, the chunking of large assignments into achievable tasks, and the use of graphic organizers and memory aids. It is a cruel irony that Damien’s excellent adaptive skills in real-world settings disqualify him from being eligible to earn an alternate high school diploma. Such programs are reserved for students with significant cognitive and adaptive disabilities.
In Mississippi, students like Damien frequently become trapped, forced to choose between following a traditional academic pathway, which is impossible for them to pass, or failing to complete high school and dropping out. We need a third choice. For Damien, a reinstated occupational diploma program would be a life changer. Such a program would combine specialized academic requirements, practical skills training, and career-focused courses. It would prepare Damien for independent living, vocational training, and fulfilling work as a welder.
To ensure that Damien gains literacy skills, an occupational program could incorporate assistive technology, including text-to-speech software, immersive hands-on learning, modified reading materials, and alternative assessment techniques such as oral presentations, video projects, and skill demonstrations. In such a program, Damien would concentrate on acquiring useful workforce skills rather than failing academic courses that he is unable to pass. If he got a welding certification, he could start working as soon as he graduated from high school. What’s more, if Damien and others like him had access to career pathways, they would help replenish Mississippi’s workforce in manufacturing, trades, and healthcare. Students could become mechanics, electricians, healthcare assistants, and more if our state’s education was in line with industry needs.
In neighboring Alabama, for example, high school students have different ways to earn their diplomas in addition to the traditional path. They can take a career-focused route by completing and passing the ACT WorkKeys exam or earning a professional certification, which helps them step straight into the workforce. For students with learning challenges, there’s also the Essential Pathways option, which provides extra support and accommodations to ensure students like Damien still have a clear path to graduation.
If Damien could concentrate on welding, he would feel more confident knowing that he is working towards a fulfilling profession rather than trying and failing to complete school. I know that Damien would proudly graduate with an occupational diploma. His family would be there on graduation night to cheer on the first in their family to walk across the stage with his peers to accept his diploma. Instead of keeping his head down, he would hold it high. Let’s make the occupational diploma a reality so that students like Damien can achieve their dreams and make a valuable contribution to Mississippi’s workforce.
Sydney Heath is 6th-grade math inclusion teacher and mentor teacher at Bay-Waveland Middle School in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. She is a 2024–2025 Teach Plus Mississippi Policy Fellow.
