Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program
Education
40% more likely to become a teen parent
70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime
60% more likely to never attend college
At-risk children who
don’t receive a high-quality
early childhood education are:
50% more likely to be placed in special education
25% more likely to drop out of school
According to theounce.org, "By age 3, a child with parents living on welfare has heard about 3 million words. A child with parents of higher socio-economic status will have heard about 11 million words. For at-risk children, the achievement gap is very real, and can be seen as early as age nine months. Starting early can prevent the achievement gap from ever taking root."
Sixty six percent of all U.S. fourth graders scored "below proficient" on the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reading test, meaning that they are not reading at grade level. Even more alarming is the fact that among students from low-income backgrounds, 80 percent score below grade level in reading.
There is a major oppertunity for students interested in technology and other STEM related fields:
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The number of computer and IT graduates and certifications has almost doubled over the last four years.
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82% of computer-related job postings in 2014 required a bachelors degree or higher
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Since 2010 there has been a 48% increase in computer-related bachelors and masters degrees conferred in computer related fields.
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Although degrees conferred among all computer-related majors have increased, there is still a major gap with computer science degrees.
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Computer science majors at Indiana universities increased to 417 in 2013, but the demand for software developers in Central Indiana alone was more than 2,500 that year, which is approximately six-times more job postings than eligible graduates.
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Source: techpoint.org/research
If the 1.3 million dropouts from the Class of 2010 had graduated, the nation would have seen $337 billion more in earnings over the course of the students’ lifetimes.
Source: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-education-america
Since the 1970s, the U.S. has nearly tripled the amount spent per child on public education. Unfortunately, despite this spending, student achievement has remained relatively stagnant. Today, we spend more than $600 billion in public funds per year on education.
While the U.S. spends more per student than most other developed countries, this does not translate into better performance. For example, the Slovak Republic, which spends around $53,000 per student, performs at the same level as the United States, which spends over $115,000 per student.
What this tells us is that money alone cannot fix the problem; we need deeper reforms.
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Two out of three eighth-graders can’t read proficiently.
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Nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders scored below proficient in math.
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Seventy-five percent of students are not proficient in civics. (NAEP, 2011)
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Nearly three out of four eighth- and 12th-grade students cannot write proficiently.
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Some 1.1 million American students drop out of school every year.
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For African-American and Hispanic students across the country, dropout rates are close to 40 percent, compared to the national average of 27 percent.
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Less than half of American students – 46 percent – finish college. The U.S. ranks last among 18 countries measured on this indicator.
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Only one in four high school students graduate ready for college in all four core subjects (English, reading, math and science), which is why a third of students entering college have to take remedial courses.
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Only 4 percent of African American students and 11 percent of Hispanic students finish high school ready for college in their core subjects.
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Two-thirds of college professors report that what is taught in high school does not prepare students for college.