Covering poverty and education

– by Jeff Jordan

Essential resources

Here are essential resources that should help you cover poverty and education in your county.

Key sources of data

• The Georgia County Guide provides more than 165,000 facts that cover each of Georgia's 159 counties. The easy-to-use format profiles the state's past and present social, economic, and demographic environments. Published by the University of Georgia for 20 years, the guide covers topics such as agriculture, courts, crime, education, health, housing, labor, population and public welfare. www.gafacts.net
• GeorgiaInfo is a site sponsored by GALILEO and the University of Georgia Libraries to provide statistical and demographic information on the state. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/
• Office of Planning and Budget Census Data specializes in financial information that could be related to education. www.gadata.org
• Governor's Office for Student Achievement provides press releases and other official information on education in Georgia. www.gaosa.org
• Kids Count is an initiative sponsored by The Annie E. Casey Foundation that attempts to track the status of children in each state. Countless data and other links are available on this site. http://www.aecf.org/MajorInitiatives/KIDSCOUNT.aspx
• Initiative on Poverty and the Economy started in 2003 with the University of Georgia's Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. The site includes seminal studies on persistent poverty in the south. http://www.poverty.uga.edu/
• National Center for Children in Poverty provides specific data on children in poverty. http://www.nccp.org/

Key sources of documents

• Georgia Department of Education Adequate Yearly Progress Data gives the annual test scores for all Georgia school districts.

Key sources for experts

• System-level administrators who specialize in Title 1 money received from the U.S. Department of Education
• Graduation coaches
• Personnel who specialize in maintaining and tracking student data

Additional Web Sites:

• Reading is Fundamental www.rif.org
• Child Trends www.childtrends.org
• Parents as Teachers www.parentsasteachers.org
• Academy of Hope www.aohdc.org/index.htm
• Second Start www.oaklandlibrary.org/services/SecondStart/
• Literacy Services of Wisconsin www.literacyservices.org
• Milwaukee Achiever Program www.milwaukeeachiever.org
• Journey House www.journeyhouse.org
• Certified Literate Community Program www.dtae.org/adultlit/clcp.html
• Literacy Connections www.literacyconnections.com/Virginia.html
• Next Door Foundation www.nextdoormil.org
• Robin Hood Foundation www.robinhood.org
• Garrett County Community Action www.garrettcac.org
• Project H.E.L.P. www.project-help.org
• Partners for a Prosperous Athens www.prosperousathens.org
• National Institute for Literacy www.nifl.gov

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Freakonomics author Steven Levitt provides these lists:

4 factors that are not strongly correlated to childhood test scores:

• The child's parents recently moved into a better neighborhood.
• The child's mother didn't work between birth and kindergarten.
• The child's parents regularly take him to museums.
• The child frequently watches television.

4 factors strongly correlated with test scores:

• The child has highly educated parents.
• The child's parents have high socioeconomic status.
• The child's mother was 30 or older at the time of first child's birth.
• The child has many books in his home.