September 21, 2004 |
2004-R-0733 | |
STUDENT MOBILITY AND CHILD POVERTY | ||
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By: Soncia Coleman, Research Analyst | ||
You asked for Connecticut data relating child poverty to student mobility.
State Department of Education (SDE) data shows that in educational reference groups (ERGs) where students are the most needy there is a greater percentage of elementary and middle school students who do not return to the same school each year.
Created by SDE in 1989 as a research and performance measurement tool, ERGs are a classification system under which school districts are grouped together to allow legitimate education outcome comparisons among districts. SDE uses seven factors to classify districts into ERGs. Most are socio-economic characteristics that correlate strongly with educational achievement, including family income, the number of children receiving welfare benefits, parents’ educational attainment, family structure, and whether English is spoken in the home.
Table 1 compares one of those factors, the percentage of students in the ERG eligible for free/reduced price meals during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years, to the percentage of elementary and middle school students returning to the same school in the same timeframe. Under the federal school lunch program, children with family incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level are eligible for free lunches and students with family incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price lunches. Table 2 lists the the towns that comprise each ERG.
Table1: Comparison of ERG Percent Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Meals and Percent of Returning Students
2001-2002 |
2002-03 | |||
ERG |
% Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Meals |
% of Elem. And Middle School Students Returning to Same School |
% Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Meals |
% of Elem. And Middle School Students Returning to Same School |
A |
1. 5 |
93. 6 |
1. 3 |
92. 9 |
B |
4. 6 |
93. 3 |
4. 9 |
93. 1 |
C |
3. 9 |
86. 9 |
4. 2 |
93. 0 |
D |
9. 7 |
91. 7 |
9. 2 |
91. 4 |
E |
8. 2 |
93. 1 |
8. 8 |
92. 8 |
F |
19. 0 |
89. 1 |
19. 5 |
89. 3 |
G |
17. 3 |
90. 1 |
19. 5 |
89. 9 |
H |
32. 2 |
85. 8 |
35. 0 |
85. 4 |
I |
62. 6 |
72. 1 |
71. 5 |
75. 9 |
Table 2: Education Reference Groups
ERG A |
Avon, Darien, Easton, New Canaan, Redding, Region 9, Ridgefield, Simsbury, Weston, Westport, Wilton, Woodbridge. |
ERG B |
Bethel, Brookfield, Cheshire, Fairfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Greenwich, Guilford, Madison, Marlborough, Monroe, New Fairfield, Newtown, Orange, Region 5, South Windsor, Trumbull, West Hartford. |
ERG C |
Andover, Barkhamsted, Bethany, Bolton, Bozrah, Canton, Cornwall, Deep River, East Granby, Ellington, Essex, Hebron, Ledyard, Litchfield, Mansfield, New Hartford, Oxford, Pomfret, Preston, Region 4, Region 6, Region 7, Region 8, Region 10, Region 13, Region 14, Region 15, Region 17, Region 18, Region 19, Salem, Salisbury, Sherman, Somers, Suffield, Westbrook, Willington, Woodstock. |
ERG D |
Berlin, Branford, Clinton, Colchester, Columbia, East Hampton, East Lyme, Hamden, Newington, New Milford, North Branford, North Haven, Old Saybrook, Region 12, Rocky Hill, Shelton, Southington, Tolland, Watertown, Wethersfield, Windsor. |
ERG E |
Ashford, Brooklyn, Canaan, Canterbury, Chester, Colebrook, Coventry, Cromwell, Eastford, East Haddam, Franklin, Hampton, Hartland, Kent, Lebanon, Lisbon, Norfolk, North Stonington, Portland, Region 1, Region 11, Region 16, Scotland, Sharon, Union, Woodstock Academy |
ERG F |
Bloomfield, Enfield, Groton, Manchester, Milford, Montville, Naugatuck, Seymour, Stonington, Stratford, Torrington, Vernon, Wallingford, Waterford, Windsor Locks, Wolcott |
ERG G |
Chaplin, East Haven, East Windsor, Gilbert Academy, Griswold, North Canaan, Plainfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Sprague, Stafford, Sterling, Thomaston, Thompson, Voluntown, Winchester. |
ERG H |
Ansonia, Bristol, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Killingly, Meriden, Middletown, Norwalk, Norwich, Norwich Free Academy, Putnam, Stamford, West Haven. |
ERG I |
Bridgeport, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Waterbury, Windham |
Source: Connecticut State Department of Education, Division of Teaching, Learning and Assessment, Buruea of Research, Evaluation and Student Assessment, Office of Research and Evaluation
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