Does Percent of Students Participating in the Free Lunch Program Impact the Percent of Students Proficient?
The Literacy and Mathematics maps represent district-level classifications based on percent of students enrolled in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program (FRLP) and their performance on the Benchmark and End-of-Course Exams. Districts with a percentage of students proficient higher than the state average are colored green, and those with a lower proficiency rate are colored red. The shade of the color represents percent of students participating in FRLP in the district: the lighter the shade, the smaller the number of students participating in FRLP.
Methodology
Separate maps have been generated for each year (2003, 2004 and 2005). For each district, the total number of non-mobile students proficient on the 4th, 6th, 8th Grade Benchmark Exam and the Algebra, Geometry, and Literacy End-of-Course exams was identified. This number was divided by the total number of non-mobile students in the district attempting these exams to produce a district-level Percent Proficient for both literacy and mathematics. This methodology was repeated at the state level to determine the Arkansas Mean Percent Proficient in both Literacy and Mathematics. For each subject area, the Percent Proficient for district was compared to the Arkansas Mean Percent Proficient and the district was categorized as above (green) or below (red) the state mean. In 2005 the literacy assessment was changed and this had the greatest impact on the 4th grade.
Additionally, school districts were categorized based on the percent of students participating in the FRLP. If a school district had less than 33% students participating in FRLP, it was assigned a light shade. If a school district contained between 33% and 67% students participating in FRLP, it was assigned a moderate shade. Finally, if a school district had more than 67% of students participating in FRLP it was assigned a dark shade.
Examples
1) A school district performing below the Arkansas Mean Percent Proficient with less than 33% students participating in FRLP will be colored light red on the map.
2) A school district performing above Arkansas Mean Percent Proficient with more than 67% students participating in FRLP will be colored dark green on the map.
Interpretation of the Literacy and Mathematics Maps
A few specific trends exist in these maps and they are consistent for literacy and mathematics across the three years of data. For both literacy and mathematics, districts with more than 67% of students participating in FRLP are more likely to have student performance below the state average. This involves comparing dark green districts with dark red districts. This pattern is consistent across all three years and increases if the district is in the Delta region of Arkansas or below Interstate 30. Districts with 33% to 67% of students participating in FRLP also exhibit student performance below the state average (median green versus median red) and there is an increased likelihood for lower performance in the Delta region or below Interstate 30. To consider a specific district, one can compare the district across all six maps. Districts may change in either literacy or mathematics from below the state average to above the state average and vise-versa. Similarly, the number of students participating in FRLP may change from year-to-year. The 2005 map reflects the consolidation of some districts. An important finding from these six maps is that poverty, as measured by participation in FRLP, is not isolated to the Delta region or below Interstate 30, although there is a greater systemic problem in performance associated with that region.
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