Percent of 12th graders graduating on time varies by Louisville Metro Council District, ranging from 59% to 88% (SY 2011-2012).
Source: Jefferson County Kids Count Data Book Kentucky Youth Advocates, 2012
Percent of High School Graduates College or Career Ready
The percentage of high school graduates meeting college and career readiness benchmarks varies by school, from 10% to 92%.
Source: Jefferson County Kids Count Data Book, Kentucky Youth Advocates, 2012
Births to Teen Mothers
In Jefferson County in 2008-2010, the rate of birth to teens was 45.4 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19.
In Kentucky in 2010, teens had a birth rate of 46 per 1,000 females ages 15-19 compared to the national rate of 34 per 1,000.
The rate of birth to teens varies widely by Metro Council District. During the 2008-2010 time frame, Metro Council District 16 had the lowest rate at 6.6 teen births per 1,000,while rates in districts 4 and 5 fell between 95-97 teen births per 1,000 females ages 15-19.
The total number of births to females ages 15 to 19 years from 2008 to 2010 was 3,165. 573 were subsequent births to teenage mothers.
Source: Jefferson County Kids Count Data Book Kentucky Youth Advocates, 2012
JCPS Data on Student Progress
Jefferson County Public Schools posts info on student progress online.
The Kentucky Department of Education Unbridled Learning model holds districts accountable for five primary areas:
- Achievement – based on student scores on state tests;
- Gap – based on the scores of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, receive special education services, are learning English as a second language or whose race is identified as African-American, Hispanic or Native American;
- Growth – compares individual student performance from year to year;
- College/Career Readiness – based on college readiness exams, career aptitude tests and the number of students who earn technical certificates;
- Graduation Rate – based on the number of students who graduate within four years.
Check these resources for more information:
JCPS Summary of 2014 Accountability Data
Kentucky State Department of Education – Data Portal for all Schools and Districts
Academic Performance Lags for Many High School Students
38.8% of high school students with gaps in achievement historically (student groups: ethnic/race minority, special education, free/reduced lunch, limited English proficiency) are proficient or distinguished in reading. In all areas of learning (reading, math, science, social studies, language mechanics, writing) “gap group” students perform well below their peers.
Gap Calculation: Kentucky’s goal is 100 percent proficiency for all students. The distance from that goal or gap is measured by creating a student Gap Group — an aggregate count of student groups that have historically had achievement gaps. Student groups combined include ethnicity/race (African American, Hispanic, Native American), Special Education, Poverty (free/reduced-price meals) and Limited English Proficiency that score at proficient or higher. More info on the Kentucky Department of Education Accountability Model
Graduation Rates by High School (2013-14)
79% of Jefferson County Public Schools students who started high school four years ago graduated in 2014.
The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate is the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. From the beginning of 9th grade, students who are entering that grade for the first time form a cohort that is subsequently “adjusted” by adding any students who transfer into the cohort later during the 9th grade and the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out, emigrate to another country, or die during that same period. For more information on the data from
Youth Voice: YMCA Safe Place
Learn more from a young person served at YMCA Safe Place Services in Louisville.
WFPL Report: Foster Care in Kentucky
In a 2014, WFPL News reported on the significant challenges faced by Kentucky’s public school districts: homelessness, court system involved families, substance abuse, and young people involved in the foster care system.
Across the state, approximately 7,600 children and youth are in foster care, a system that struggles to adequately meet the complex needs of families and children. “Kentucky is near the threshold of correcting years of messy bureaucracy that have led to high costs and inefficient care for children, state child-welfare leaders and advocates say. But more time is needed to fix the byzantine system, says Teresa James, commissioner of the Department of Community Based Services, which oversees the state’s child welfare.”
According to the WFPL News report, the child welfare system is working to address two critical needs:
First, the assessments kids get when they enter the welfare system aren’t adequate, says Crystal Collins-Camargo, an associate professor at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville.
“The system today does not routinely, in a systematic way, assess those kids at the front door,” she says.
“That doesn’t mean a lot of kids don’t get referred very quickly on to mental health services. A lot of them do.”
But that’s not always a good thing. Children must be referred to the right agencies for the right services, she says.
Once the assessments improve, the second major issue will be making sure the right services are available.
That’s where the woman with the “impossible job” comes in.
“I have to change. I don’t get a choice,” says James, who has led the state’s Department of Community Based Services since 2012.
James is lauded by some child-welfare advocates who are optimistic that Kentucky is close to making significant changes.
But she’ll need to be creative, because money is tight.
“There’s just a lot of grassroots types of programs that don’t exist any more that provided some really strong outcomes for us, and now we don’t have those,” she says. “So a lot of those basic services, DCBS staff are now trying to pinch hit.”
CSYA Issue Briefs: Voices of Louisville’s Young Adults
Voices of Louisville’s Young Adults Sept 2012
What do young adults in crisis without support care about? What are their goals and dreams? What are their barriers and worries?
Who is helping our young adults? Where do they live? Who is filling the gap?
Special thanks to Liberty High School, YMCA Safe Place Services, YouthBuild, Wayside Christian Mission, and Family Scholar House, for hosting focus sessions with Young Adults. This report is printed by the Coalition for the Homeless with support from WellCare.
Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity
This KIDS COUNT policy report suggests that business, government, philanthropy and communities must come together to create opportunities and build a stronger workforce for the future. Now is the time to undertake a flexible, focused and nimble approach to strengthen our systems and create new opportunities for disconnected youth.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (Publication Year). Publication Title. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from URL
http://www.aecf.org/resources/youth-and-work/