A new report on child well-being, measured by state and race, has turned an unflattering spotlight on some U.S. states not used to being at the bottom of such lists, including Wisconsin, with a worst-in-the-nation ranking for its black children, and South Dakota, with abysmal results for its Native American youth.
The report, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, detailed nationwide racial disparities that put Asian and white children in a far more advantageous position than black, Latino and Native American children. For some advocates for children, the state-specific results were stinging.
The essence of the Casey report is a newly devised index based on 12 indicators measuring a child's success from birth to adulthood. The indicators include reading and math proficiency, high school graduation data, teen birthrates, employment prospects, family income and education levels, and neighborhood poverty levels.
Nationally, Asian children had the highest composite score at 776, followed by white children at 704. Then there was a sharp drop-off: the scores were 404 for Latino children, 387 for American-Indian children and 345 for black children.
Wisconsin had the worst score for its black youth at 285, followed by Mississippi, then Michigan.
"Wisconsin is a state that claims to value opportunity and community and fairness," said Ken Taylor, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. "That we are the worst in the nation when it comes to the well-being of our African-American children is unacceptable."
In the Casey index for Native American children, the South Dakota score of 185 was the lowest of any racial group in any state - a result of the deep poverty that prevails on many of South Dakota's tribal reservations.
Sherry Salway Black, a tribal governance expert with the National Congress of American Indians, described the South Dakota score as "horrendous," but said she was impressed by initiatives on some of the reservations that could help children and families.
In particular, she praised native-run community development financial institutions for seeking to improve youth employment and provide young people with financial literacy education.
The latest report can be found at KIDS COUNT Data Center.
Associated Press writer Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
Follow David Crary on Twitter.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
Comments
I think the root cause of
I think the root cause of children having low scores on such literacy tests is due to lack of exposure or enough motivation from their families. Children are taught from a young age the values of family and their responsibilities towards family first, rather than trying to set them towards achieving their goals. But then again, family takes care of family and if the states wont provide incentives for the families to support their economies then they have no other means than to secure their only worthy investment, their children. States have to work together with communities to create programs to support the native-Americans and Black Americans
Response
I would have to agree with you that the low scores are due to the lack of exposure or enough motivation from families. I feel like most kids live up to their parents and in order to do that they live by certain standards that the parents set. I feel with this being said that the child will not want to accomplish his/ her own goals and dreams.
I agree that family values
I agree that family values play a huge part in the success of the children. If a family is so focused on working to put food on the table, academics may not be a top priority, and therefore never will be a top priority for the family. However, if a family is more financially stable, parents are able to push their children to do well in school and provide them with more opportunities to succeed.
I disagree. I do not think
I disagree. I do not think this is a problem of lacking motivation and not having goal oriented family values. I think the root of this problem is lack of opportunity. Think about how different races are segregated by neighborhoods and school districts. I think all families want the best for their children, but when opportunity is absent, success is almost impossible.
i agree with you. it isnt
i agree with you. it isnt always about what the family believes that will affect the child and their desire to learn. a child can still want more for themselves as long as they are given the opportunity. if they are given opportunity it can provoke desire to learn or want more for themselves. if schools dont promote these opportunities than a child doesnt have anything to go on. they are already live in lower parts of town with middle class families and by default must attend lower end schools. despite all this, ambition can still be accomplished as long as it is still promoted. if the school gives this and then gives them the tools to achieve them such as reading and math then they wont have as many issues eventually accomplishing those dreams.
I agree. The families can be
I agree. The families can be as supportive and as motivating as ever, but if there simply are not a lot of opportunities to learn, then what use is it?
A combination
A combination
A combination
I think it is definitely a
I think it is definitely a combination of these factors as well as the others. Someone can have all the opportunities available to them but if their parents do not encourage them to succeed or motivate them to do well in school and if they have no intrinsic motivation then they won't succeed.
I strongly agree with you! If
I strongly agree with you! If opportunity isn't present then how can families or children reach certain goals, or obtain certain statistics? With that being said I don't think it can always be based on opportunity because oppressed people make it to the top, even if opportunity doesn't present itself. I will say for those who are oppressed it is definitely more of a fight, and the odds will be against you but I don't believe that should be a factor in schools when dealing with African American people. The fact that they are able to attend a diverse school is a fight in and of itself, we have to help provide opportunity to those who may need it most.
Both
I think the lack of education comes from both a lack of motivation and lack of opportunity. A lot of time when minorities live in these neighborhoods where education is really not priority and resources are skim, this seems to demotivate them, whereas their may not be resources readily available to you but their may be ways to get those resources from outside of your community. Many people let their community and circumstances define who they are and what they have, which is a downfall, yet others seek outside of their communities when things aren't readily available and find resources that will enable them to move toward success instead of just giving up because it takes more work on their part to look for these resources.
I think you are both on to
I think you are both on to solid points. The problem is even if you have a family that supports you but you do not have a good opportunity because you have teachers/schools that don't care about the future of their kids it makes it very hard to succeed. But if you have teachers/school that bend over backwards to help a kid attempt to succeed if they do not have a safe place to learn it also makes it extremely difficult. At the end of the day though, it comes down to the kid and their frame of mind. There are many kids with neither a good school or parents that just aren't available to help guide their children who end up succeeding. There are so many factors that cause these types of low scores to be able to pin it down to just one reason.
Agreed.
Absolutely Agree! My parents were extremely supportive of me and my siblings and help us set goals for ourselves. But if opportunity is absent in whatever state you live in then family wont do much for you. Family matters most but when you cant even find the opportunities you need to be successful it is a huge problem.
I agree that one of the
I agree that one of the problems with the low scores is that parents aren't involved in their children's schooling. Kids come home from school and the parents don't really ask or check if the kids have homework. Some parents don't know the importance of learning things at such a young age. Kids learn the best and they learn the importance of school if they are taught at a young age about doing homework and doing their best in school. If parents would take time to help their kids with their homework and focusing on learning I think the scores would be higher.
I agree. If parents make sure
I agree. If parents make sure to check up on their children's academic progress and push their children to do well in school, they will succeed.
A strong supporting cast is a
A strong supporting cast is a necessity in a child's academic success. The child should be driven by the parents to succeed, but should also feel the need to compete with his/her peers.
You are rigth
I agree with you. Parent are fundamental in this entire problem. when you point that the problem is that parents are not involved with the learning of their children make me think that with out that caring everything seems harder. Also you pointed that many people dont have idea about the importance of learning during childhood and of course you are rigth and it is quite important. I did not think in parenting but you are rigth and is one of the most influential thing to do well in school.
I agree that parents should
I agree that parents should monitor their children's performance in school and that they should keep track of homework and assignments. Parents, however, should be careful not getting too much involved into schooling because eventually a child has to stand on its own two feet meaning that the latest when a child leaves for college, he or she need to be able to study on his or her own. Parents should monitor and teach responsibility but they also need to beware a distance so they do not control and do homework FOR their kids. That would have the same effect
I agree that children need to
I agree that children need to learn good study habits but they do need someone to teach them these habits. If parents are more involved in their children's education, they will be more likely to succeed.
Equality of Opportunity...for some.
This report, although disheartening to read, helped expose racial disparities (noted in particular states) that affect our children's well-being and chances at a happy, healthy, and successful adulthood. Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Michigan should take these findings as a profound wake-up call to stand up and take action against discrimination and equality, as it impacts the children of their respective states. A particularly alarming bit of evidence came from the index for Native American children in South Dakota, where abject poverty and depressed opportunities and resources have negatively impacted kids on tribal reservations. The findings proved that our racialized, hierarchical, society still affects children in minority groups in unacceptable ways.
Thanks Very Much
I am agreeing with you that
I am agreeing with you that equality and equal opportunity is what matters the most for the children to perfume well. as due to discrimination leads to affect even the children while it is non off their faults or they have nothing to do with those stuffs but they have been included not that which affect them to have low grades.
Reach Higher
I feel that this article has shown the struggles that these minority kids go through because of their race. Their well-being is at stake because of their racial disparities and the state that are mentioned in this articles should go off these findings for these kids to live a happy, healthy, and well-educated life. May be they should fight for equality rather than bashing these children for having low scores. They should give more attention to these kids that struggle because it is their future and no child should get left behind, but the states are making it that way because of their race. It is very sad to see that our rationalized society has made this an acceptance and it is hurting those minority children.
I don't believe that the
I don't believe that the article is "bashing" the children for having low scores. I think the article was more geared toward showing the differences between the races, in addition to the effects poverty can have on those scores. More attention should be given to those children that need it, but their parents also have to give them attention. Sometimes parents are too busy with work and trying to make enough money to feed their children.
I think that parents should
I think that parents should be giving their children more attention and help them in their studies but sometimes they can't. Like you said parents jobs are to provide for their families and some families really have to work hard to make sure they have food and a roof over their heads. I think parents get so wrapped up in providing those necessary things to live that they forget that their children do need them. That relationship is also necessary so the kid feels love and important. Spending time with kids, even if it is doing homework and practicing their times tables is very important.
i am agreeing with you, that
i am agreeing with you, that parents have contribution to the children performance as through spending with them even in practices of different subject as well as to look on their books, homework his can be a good assistant to teachers. however I still be curious about this as if parents are the case why Asian children and White children perfume better than the rest? are their parents more concern about their children than other ethnic group like Blacks or native American? I am not so sure bout this, I think all the parents wants their children to perfume well and score high. I think economic status has to be the factor also for this case.
i am agreeing with you, that
i am agreeing with you, that parents have contribution to the children performance as through spending with them even in practices of different subject as well as to look on their books, homework his can be a good assistant to teachers. however I still be curious about this as if parents are the case why Asian children and White children perfume better than the rest? are their parents more concern about their children than other ethnic group like Blacks or native American? I am not so sure bout this, I think all the parents wants their children to perfume well and score high. I think economic status has to be the factor also for this case.
i am agreeing with you, that
i am agreeing with you, that parents have contribution to the children performance as through spending with them even in practices of different subject as well as to look on their books, homework his can be a good assistant to teachers. however I still be curious about this as if parents are the case why Asian children and White children perfume better than the rest? are their parents more concern about their children than other ethnic group like Blacks or native American? I am not so sure bout this, I think all the parents wants their children to perfume well and score high. I think economic status has to be the factor also for this case.
i am agreeing with you, that
i am agreeing with you, that parents have contribution to the children performance as through spending with them even in practices of different subject as well as to look on their books, homework his can be a good assistant to teachers. however I still be curious about this as if parents are the case why Asian children and White children perfume better than the rest? are their parents more concern about their children than other ethnic group like Blacks or native American? I am not so sure bout this, I think all the parents wants their children to perfume well and score high. I think economic status has to be the factor also for this case.
Amen!
Thank you for pointing out that this study shows more than lower educational attainment by minority children and is not an indictment of parents. Much of the discussion I have read on here is right in line with the 'culture of poverty' victim blaming argument - which is absurd. This is a systemic issue in which people of color are treated differently (read: negatively) in regard to having access to opportunities to succeed in this society. These differences in access add up and lead to these horrendous situations.
Pages