(a Radio Iowa report) – The annual Kids Count report ranks Iowa 10th in the nation, down one position from last year. The report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation looks at 16 indicators of child well-being that include economic, education, health and community factors. Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, says while Iowa still ranks high overall, she’s concerned some categories are trending downwards, like education, where Iowa ranked below the national average.
“On preschool participation, Iowa ranks 26th,” Discher says. “On fourth grade reading, Iowa ranks 32nd. On eighth grade math, we rank 24th. In a high school graduation, where we used to be top in the nation, we ranked 26th.” The report finds nearly three fourths of Iowa eighth graders are below proficiency levels in math, and the same is true for 4th graders in reading, which Discher says is troubling.
“We still are better than average on many indicators, but the trends are not promising,” she says. “In some cases, it’s that at the nation as a whole made progress where we were static, and in some cases, we’ve seen declines.” However, the report found Iowa continues to have some of the highest scores in the nation when it comes to economic well-being indicators like children who live at the poverty level.
(by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)
https://www.aecf.org/
