Ohio research: poverty has a direct correlation to student performance

Analysis of the most recent Ohio school district state report cards confirms research that shows poverty has a direct correlation to student performance. Using the report cards’ Performance Index (PI) as the measure, analysts examined the relationship between the PI and average income in a school district; poverty rate; percentage of residents with college degrees; and minority population.

The analysis was conducted by the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) and Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA).

The Performance Index (PI)is a measure of how well students performed on the state assessments. It is more than just the percentage of students achieving proficiency. Its range allows the public to judge how much higher students performed beyond proficiency.

The 123 Ohio school districts considered by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to be suburban districts showed not only the highest PI scores, but also the highest average income, lowest poverty rate and highest concentration of college degrees.

However, race appears to be less of a factor, since these districts had the third-highest concentration of minority population among the eight classes of school districts recognized by ODE. It is not until the concentration of minority population approaches 13% that there is any relationship with student performance on state tests.

While there is a strong relationship of the PI score to both average income and poverty in all eight school district classes, there seems to be little relationship between student test performance and the percentage of district residents with college degrees once that percentage falls below about 25%.

The data used is in this analysis is from the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Taxation.