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 A
Guide to Assessing and Increasing School Engagement
Recession
Could Cause Large Increases in Poverty and Push Millions Into Deep
Poverty
Rural
Poor Often Segregated in High-Poverty Areas
U.S.
Census Bureau Releases American Community Survey
A
Guide to Assessing and Increasing School Engagement
Students who are disengaged from school are at risk for many poor
outcomes beyond poor academic achievement. They are at risk of skipping
classes, sexual activity, substance use, and ultimately dropping
out of school. The bad news is levels of school engagement are declining,
and these engagement levels are particularly low among boys. The
good news is that out-of-school time programs can play a role in
increasing school engagement.
A new
Child Trends brief, Assessing School Engagement: A Guide for
Out-Of-School Time Program Practitioners, provides information
on why school engagement matters, how out-of-school time programs
can affect school engagement, and how to measure engagement. The
brief includes specific measures of school engagement from three
surveys and a list of additional resources.
Read
the brief.
Recession
Could Cause Large Increases in Poverty and Push Millions Into Deep
Poverty
Like previous recessions, the current downturn
is likely to cause significant increases both in the number of Americans
who are poor and the number living in "deep poverty," with incomes
below half of the poverty line. This recession is likely to be deep
and the government safety net for very poor families who lack jobs
has weakened significantly in recent years.
There
are a series of steps that federal and state policymakers could
take to soften the recession's harshest impacts and limit the extent
of the increases in deep poverty, destitution, and homelessness.
Options are available to policymakers to help stave off large increases
in severe poverty and hardship in this recession. Virtually all
of these options also would rate high as effective stimulus measures,
for instance, the amount of new spending they would infuse into
the economy for each dollar that the federal government spends.
Read
the one-page executive summary.
Read
the full 15-page report.
Rural
Poor Often Segregated in High-Poverty Areas
One-half of rural poor are segregated in high-poverty areas. Most
middle-class and affluent Americans have little or no real contact
with the poor-in neighborhoods, schools, or communities. The poor
are literally and figuratively separated from mainstream society,
living in economically distressed places that often seem worlds
apart from most Americans.
Economically
distressed communities often lack adequate institutional support
services (e.g., health care and educational programs), good jobs
that pay a living wage, and a stable middle-class population that
provides role models and active networks to jobs and opportunities.
Opportunities for upward mobility in poor places are limited, and
poverty is often passed along from generation to generation.
A recent
policy brief, "Concentrated Rural Poverty and the Geography of Exclusion,"
highlights the challenges faced by America's physically and socially
isolated rural poor. This joint publication by Carsey Institute
and Rural Realities shares policy strategies that work to help reduce
concentrated poverty.
Read
the brief.
U.S.
Census Bureau releases
American Community Survey
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the first three-year estimates
from the American Community Survey. This release includes estimates
of people living in “midsize population areas” with 20,000 to 64,999
people. About one-third of the 3,141 counties nationwide have populations
in this range. The Census Bureau has set up a page on its Web site
to help prepare people for the new data.
Go
to the American Community Survey.
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