Indiana's Poverty

 Grading Schools (Sheila Kennedy) points to a research project from Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University: It’s Time to Measure the “Value Added” Performance of Schools.

 Ms. Kennedy wrote:

We have long known that student achievement is heavily dependent upon parental income, and that students from impoverished backgrounds face barriers their wealthier classmates do not. What is less recognized is the fact that the results of standardized testing often reflect the reality that students in some school districts are more prosperous than students in other districts, and that higher average test scores reflect that economic reality rather than the quality of the education provided.

Hicks and his research team set out to measure the extent to which superior test scores were a result of higher prosperity, and the extent to which those scores could be attributed to superior teaching–what he dubbed the “value added” dimension. They found that “some Indiana districts are dramatically outperforming what their demographics would predict, while others are leaving potential on the table.”

Hicks wrote:

In this model of Indiana’s 290 public school corporations, there were only two issues that correlated with test scores: our poverty measures and the share of Asian students in the school (but only tests at 8th grade and above). This held across the 3rd- and 8th-grade ILEARN and 10th-grade SAT share who met the college-ready benchmark.

School size didn’t matter. The share of White or Black students didn’t matter. And the English language learner share didn’t matter — which is sure to disappoint anti-immigrant folks in the state.

So, what affected school performance is poverty, plain and simple — that is among the most studied and clear findings of the last half-century of social science research.

Ball State CBER Brief Examines Why Full-Time Work May Not Lift Households Out of Poverty (Muncie Journal)

The brief points to two major forces that can blunt the return to full-time employment for households in poverty. First, some costs rise alongside work hours—particularly expenses tied to health care, transportation, and childcare. Second, income gains can coincide with reductions in assistance as eligibility changes and benefits phase down, creating complex tradeoffs that vary by household and circumstances.

“The takeaway is not that work doesn’t matter—it does,” Dr. Wornell said. “It’s that policy design matters, too. The goal should be to ensure that taking more hours reliably translates into greater stability and upward mobility.”

The brief doesn’t point to a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it lays out several policy approaches that research suggests can help ensure work leads to higher net resources. These include smoothing benefit phase-outs, reducing key household costs, and improving coordination across public supports.

Education can lead to children getting out of poverty.

A better policy on the poor moving to full-time work can raise whole families.

Why does Indiana do so little for our people living in poverty?

sch 4/20 

Sinking instead of soaring: Boys and men in Indiana are falling behind. Here’s how you can help. (The Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Our research initiative included convening an advisory group of academic, government, nonprofit and business leaders from Indiana who provided insights on why young men are falling off an educational and employment cliff as well as ideas for reversing this dangerous trend.

The advisory group’s recommendations include:

• Launching a public-awareness campaign aimed at parents to educate them on the dangers of social media and the need to promote healthier use of technology.
• Establishing a public-awareness campaign to educate men on responsible fatherhood.
•  Promoting public policies that encourage, rather than discourage, marriage.
• Crafting state policies to curtail children’s access to social media.
• Working with Indiana’s professional sports and philanthropic organizations to revive neighborhood sports leagues.
• Enlisting boys and young men in community-building efforts at the neighborhood level.
• Developing more reentry initiatives to help nonviolent juvenile offenders reconnect with their communities.
• Providing men with more incentives to serve as mentors and teachers.
• Developing more effective methods to help young men see the connection between education and career opportunities.
• Supporting work-based opportunities that provide meaningful career experiences.
• Recognizing the role of digital technology in shaping male behavior and well-being, acknowledging that Big Tech is part of the problem facing boys and young men and crafting legislation to shield our children from the dangers of algorithm-fueled social media.

The release of our study is the start of a vital conversation that needs to happen in every school, nonprofit, religious institution and industry in Indiana. Our state is losing the contributions of far too many young men in our communities.

So, again, why does Indiana do so little for its citizens?

sch 4/22