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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: November 2, 2011

National Assessment of Educational Progress

  • Since 1990s, U.S. students’ math has sharpened, but reading lags, By Sam Dillon, November 1, 2011, New York Times: “Elementary and middle school students have improved greatly in math, but their reading skills have stagnated over the last two decades, federal officials said on Tuesday. The officials, who oversee the largest federal standardized testing program, used the release of scores from nationwide math and reading exams to highlight the contrasting long-term trends…”
  • Nation’s report card: Kids showing a bit of improvement in math, but many still not proficient, Associated Press, November 1, 2011, Washington Post: “Some progress. Still needs improvement. The nation’s report card on math and reading shows fourth- and eighth-graders scoring their best ever in math and eighth graders making some progress in reading. But the results released Tuesday are a stark reminder of just how far the nation’s school kids are from achieving the No Child Left Behind law’s goal that every child in America be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Just a little more than one-third of the students were proficient or higher in reading. In math, 40 percent of the fourth-graders and 35 percent of the eighth-graders had reached that level…”
  • Education report card: Flat reading scores are ‘deeply disappointing’, By Amanda Paulson, November 1, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “America’s fourth- and eighth-graders are inching ahead in their performance in math, but their reading scores are largely stagnant. That’s the verdict from the latest round of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as the ‘nation’s report card,’ which regularly measures students’ performance on a variety of subjects. The best news from the 2011 test was in math, where scores have risen steadily since 1990. The scores posted a small increase from 2009, the last time the test was given. For fourth-graders, the average math score was 241 on a 500-point scale – 28 points higher than in 1990 and 1 point higher than in 2009. Students at all percentiles except the lowest one increased…”

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program – Maine

Maine told heat aid being slashed, By Glenn Adams (AP), November 2, 2011, Lewiston Sun Journal: “As Andy Tasker watches his work hours and pay go down, his need for heating assistance goes up. The Auburn resident and thousands like him in Maine are facing drastic cuts in Low Income Home Energy Assistance, as the price of heating oil rises far above last year’s level. ‘This is a necessity to me,’ Tasker said Monday, just days after federal government told the Maine State Housing Authority that it should expect to receive $23 million for the program, down from $55.6 million last year – a 60 percent drop. Maine Housing officials, and their counterparts around the Northeast, are hoping one of two bills in Congress will bolster heating assistance, but the outlook nonetheless is not good that the final amount will help people like Tasker…”

Foster Care – Washington, South Dakota

  • Overhaul to foster-care system wins approval, By Jennifer Sullivan, October 31, 2011, Seattle Times: “A years-long effort to overhaul the state’s foster-care system, making home placements more stable for children and keeping caseloads manageable for social workers, will be completed in just over two years. Under an agreement signed Monday, the state will have a far different child-welfare system in place by the end of 2013 than it did when a class-action lawsuit on behalf of foster children was filed in 1998. The case, known by state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) officials as Braam, is named after plaintiff Jessica Braam, who had been bounced through 34 foster-care placements by the time she was 12 years old. Her story became emblematic of problems that plagued the foster-care system overseen by the DSHS…”
  • Governor’s office calls NPR foster care report flawed; congressmen seek review, By Kevin Woster, November 1, 2011, Rapid City Journal: “Staffers for Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Monday attacked a National Public Radio report critical of state child-protection programs that remove Native American children from their homes for foster-care placement, saying NPR was biased and inaccurate in its reporting. But two members of the U.S. House of Representatives thought the NPR report was valid enough to call for an investigation into whether those South Dakota child protection policies and practices with Native American families violate federal law. U. S. Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Dan Boren, D-Okla., sent a letter to Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary of the Interior Department for Indian Affairs, calling for the investigation. They allege, as the NPR report implies, that South Dakota violates the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law that directs officials to place Native American children removed from homes with their relatives or tribes, except in unusual situations…”