Measuring education

By The Daily Progress

Published: October 11, 2008

First of two parts.

Central Virginia’s most urban high school and its most rural have something in common:

They fell far behind the state average in on-time graduation rates.

Almost every other school in the region exceeded the state average. Nelson County High School was only marginally below average.

The school with the highest graduation rate: Fluvanna.

Statewide, 81.3 percent of students graduated on time — defined as earning a State Board of Education-approved diploma within four years of entering ninth grade for the first time.

In Buckingham County, only 68.5 percent of students graduated on time. In Charlottesville, it was 70.8 percent.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright warned that just because schools aren’t graduating students on time doesn’t mean that students aren’t graduating. Students may simply need longer than four years to obtain a degree.

“The drop-out rate is not the inverse of the graduation rate,” she said.

Still, the on-time graduation rate serves as one measure of how well high schools are serving their constituents, who include parents and taxpayers as well as students.

As a county with a small tax base, Buckingham’s problem is typical of rural areas. Its median household income is $31,606 annually (2004 Census figure), compared to $51,103 for the state as a whole, according to county sources. Among residents age 25 and older, fewer than 9 percent have bachelor’s degrees.

Charlottesville has a stronger commercial tax base and more affluent residents, but at $31,700 its median household income is only slightly above Buck-ingham’s. Charlottesville’s high proportion of disadvantaged residents affect its median, and educating their children presents special challenges.

Nelson’s median is skewed in the opposite direction: It is raised by the affluent retirees of Wintergreen, while most resident are of more modest means. Median household income for Nelson County was $40,000.

For Fluvanna, it was $53,062; and for Albemarle, $55,118.

Although no single statistical measurement can reliably explain an issue this complex, there’s a general correlation between annual household income and student graduation.

Higher incomes usually mean not only that parents are willing, and able, to pay higher taxes for better schools.

It also means that these parents are more likely to have books in the home, and possess more discretionary time to spend with their children in reading and other educational activities.

Income correlates with education levels, meaning that parents value education for themselves and encourage their children to graduate.

So, is the answer to raise parents’ income levels?

The answer is, partly, yes. As tough as that is do to, creating the kind of society, and the kind of economy, that allows families to advance financially is a key to improving a range of social problems.

And how do we improve family incomes?

The answer: Opportunity.

And ... education.