Learning (2004)

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Education is perhaps more central to the idea of a high quality of life than any other variable. This is undoubtedly so because it is so closely associated with opportunity, particularly the opportunities that our children and grandchildren will enjoy in the future.

For the most part, we will focus on early childhood and K-12 education, specifically public education. Although elementary and secondary education can also be obtained in a number of religiously-affiliated schools in Northwest Indiana, it is generally recognized that public schools provide the foundation for a community’s education system.

This analysis draws on the concept of “human resource capitalism” which was developed by Ray Marshall and Marc Tucker. It assumes that American students have the same innate ability and the same generic capacity to learn as do other students. Marshall and Tucker contend that two barriers stand in the way of student achievement: student motivation and poverty. Reflecting this view, they present two broad strategies: (1) the strategic use of performance standards to promote excellence in teaching and learning; and (2) public policies that strengthen family and community support systems in order to ameliorate the effects of poverty. We believe that this understanding of the challenge facing Northwest Indiana with respect to education corresponds well with the data that follow. It also reflects the principle of sustainability and systems thinking on which this report is based.

The data included in this section of the report again tell a story of great disparity. Historically, education has not been highly valued in Indiana. In fact, Indiana generally scores in the middle range among the 50 states on most measures of education quality. The data suggest that this level of achievement, or lack thereof, is consistent with school performance in Northwest Indiana.

6.1 Educational Attainment

Although Lake and LaPorte Counties mirror the experience of Porter County and the state as a whole in their respective percentages of citizens who have graduated from high school, they lag significantly behind both Porter County and the state in the percentage of citizens who hold college degrees. Even more importantly, nearly one of every five citizens over the age of 25 in Lake and LaPorte Counties lacks a high school diploma. In Porter County, the percentage of citizens over the age of 25 who lack a high school diploma stands at just over half these values.

Table 65: Percent of Highest Education Level Obtained (2000)

Education Level Lake LaPorte  Porter Indiana

Doctorate 0.4 0.2 0.9 0.7 Professional School Degree 1.1 1.2 1.8 1.4 Master’s Degree 4.0 3.5 6.5 5.1 Bachelor’s Degree 10.7 9.0 13.5 12.2 Associate Degree 5.2 5.5 6.0 5.8 Some College; No Degree 22.0 20.1 21.7 19.8 High School Diploma or Equivalency 37.3 41.0 38.0 37.2 Less than High School 19.3 19.5 11.6 17.8

Source: U.S. Census

On a more positive note, 38,182 citizens in Lake, LaPorte, and Porter Counties are enrolled in post-secondary education programs of one kind or another. This represents 5.1%, 4.1% and 6.1% respectively of the populations of Lake, LaPorte and Porter Counties. Northwest Indiana is home to six institutions of higher education: Calumet College; Indiana University Northwest; IVY Tech State College; Purdue University Calumet; Purdue University North Central; and Valparaiso University. Together with other institutions of higher learning in Indiana and elsewhere, these several colleges and universities provide a broad range of options to high school graduates and lifelong learners.

Table 66: College Enrollment (2000)
	Lake LaPorte		Porter
Students Enrolled	24,644	4,525	8,959
Source: U.S. Census

6.2 Educational Outcomes

Four sets of outcome indicators are included in this analysis. They include SAT scores, a summary measure of ISTEP scores, the cognitive skills index and graduation rates. Several of these measures are problematic for reasons that will be noted. Consequently, all four indicators should be considered in evaluating the performances of students in individual school districts. Because of the significant disparities that exist among Northwest Indiana’s schools, these data are organized by school district rather than by county. For ease of reference, however, data pertaining to school districts in the same county are grouped together. The data are also arranged in descending order with the average score for the state as a whole indicated at the bottom.

As you will see, schools located in the urban core, i.e., East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Michigan City, continue to struggle. At the same time, some school systems located in

the region are among the very best in the State. In fact, the wide disparity in educational outcomes among school districts remains the defining characteristic of public education in Northwest Indiana.

The assessment of educational achievement has changed dramatically in recent years. At one time, graduation rates were considered the most important measure of performance. Many schools in the region report graduation rates in excess of 95%. Measurement systems put in place in recent years focus more clearly on learning.

Table 67: Graduation Rate (2001-2002)
Lake County	%
Hanover	100.0
Merrillville	98.6
Munster	98.5
Lake Station	97.4
Lake Central	97.2
Hobart	97.1
Tri-Creek	96.4
Crown Point	95.3
River Forest	92.8
Highland	92.7
Whiting	91.7
Lake Ridge	91.6
Hammond	91.2
Gary	90.6
Griffith	89.1
East Chicago	76.2
State Average	91.2

LaPorte County

Dewey Township 100.0 New Durham 100.0 South Central 96.6 LaPorte 95.1 New Prairie 94.4 Michigan City 83.0

State Average 91.2

Porter County

Porter 98.4 Valparaiso 97.7 Union 97.4 Duneland 96.9 East Porter 96.8 Boone 96.6 Portage 89.8

State Average 91.2

Source: Indiana Department of Education

SAT scores are a key measure of performance. However, they are highly affected by the number of students who take the standardized test. The percentage of graduating seniors who take the SAT ranges from 10% in the LaPorte School District to 88% in the Munster School District. The statewide average is 55%. Having noted this, only four of the sixteen school systems in Lake County reported average composite SAT scores at or above the state average of 1,004. The national average in 2003 was 1,020. In LaPorte County, only two school systems exceeded the average for the state. In Porter County, four of the seven school systems reported average composite scores above the state average. With average scores of 781 and 789 respectively, the East Chicago and Gary School Systems reported the lowest average composite SAT scores in the region. The percentage of seniors who took the SAT test in 2001 in these two school systems was 53% and 38% respectively.

Table 68: Composite SAT Scores (2001-2002)
Lake County	Score
Munster	1,059
Crown Point	1,027
Lake Central	1,021
Highland	1,004
Tri-Creek	964
Merrillville	960
Griffith	946
Hobart	938
Hanover	930
Hammond	916
Whiting	915
Lake Station	905
Lake Ridge	849
River Forest	814
Gary	789
East Chicago	781
State Average	1,004
LaPorte County
LaPorte	1,051
Dewey	1,046
New Prairie	965
South Central	957
Michigan City	939
New Durham	934
State Average	1,004
Porter County
Valparaiso	1,090
Duneland	1,056
Boone	1,034
East Porter	1,019
Union	1,001
Porter	990
Portage	958
State Average	1,004

Source: Indiana Department of Education

School systems are no longer required to report their cognitive skills index score, although most still do, as it remains a part of the state’s annual testing process. It functions, in effect, as a proxy for these student bodies’ global capacity to learn.

Table 70: % Above Math & English Standards (2002-2003)

Table 69: Cognitive Skills Index (2002-2003)
Lake County	Score
Munster	110
Crown Point	106
Lake Central	105
Hobart	104
Tri-Creek	103
Hanover	103
East Chicago	101
Merrillville	101
Griffith	101
Lake Station	100
River Forest	99
Whiting	99
Hammond	96
Lake Ridge	Not Reported
Gary	Not Reported
Highland	Not Reported
State Average	104.1

LaPorte County

Dewey 110 New Prairie 107 LaPorte 104 South Central 104 New Durham 102 Michigan City 98

State Average 104.1

Porter County

Valparaiso 109 East Porter County 109 Union  109 Boone 107 Duneland 106 Porter 105 Portage 104

State Average 103.9

Source: Indiana Department of Education

The percentage of high school students scoring above the math and English standard on the ISTEP, the state’s standardized performance test, represents a critical measure, reflecting a mastery of basic mathematics and English lessons. Statewide, 63.4% of 10th graders met the state’s standard during the 2002-2003 school year. Twelve school systems in the region reported percentages below the state average. Nine of these twelve school systems are located in Lake County: Merrillville, Hobart, Lake Station, Whiting, Lake Ridge, River Forest, Hammond, East Chicago and Gary. The Hammond, East Chicago and Gary School Systems, at 37%, 37%, 30% respectively, scored well below the state average. Only 42% of students in the Michigan City Schools met the state standard.

Lake	%
Munster	78
Lake Central	76
Hanover	73
Highland	73
Crown Point	70
Griffith	68
Tri-Creek	68
Merrillville	60
Hobart	59
Whiting	55
River Forest	55
Lake Station	45
Lake Ridge	40
Hammond	37
East Chicago	37
Gary	30
State Average	63.4

LaPorte County

South Central 79 LaPorte 66 New Prairie 65 New Durham 65 Dewey 59 Michigan City 42

State Average 63.4

Porter County

Union 80 Valparaiso 80 East Porter 77 Duneland 71 Boone 70 Porter 68 Portage 62

State Average 63.4

Source: Indiana Department of Education

6.3 Risk Factors

Our third category of indicators pertaining to education includes five sets of measures that we believe must be addressed if real improvement in the region’s educational performance is to be achieved. They include measures pertaining to: (1) early childhood development; (2) the percentage of adults living in each school system who have graduated from high school; (3) the number of students who live in families subsisting on incomes that fall below the poverty line; (4) the percentage of students in each school district who are eligible for free lunches; and (5) the percentage of students who live with mothers who have been determined to be at risk.

The correlation between early childhood development and educational outcomes is now well-established. High quality daycare is positively associated with cognitive development, language development, school readiness and social development. According to one study, 57% of children in higher quality childcare have school readiness scores that are above average, compared to only 43% of children in below average quality daycare.

Fortunately, more daycare providers are incorporating early childhood development into the packages of services that they provide to parents, even though daycare centers licensed in Indiana are not required to incorporate early childhood development into their menu of services. Unfortunately, the percentage of daycare providers who are licensed – thus indicating that they meet the minimum requirements to provide care – meets only a fraction of the need for these services. This is particularly so in LaPorte and Porter Counties, where only 14% of the children needing daycare services have access to slots located in licensed facilities.

Daycare, including daycare that provides early childhood development services, is also a function of a parent’s ability to pay. The poor and the near poor thus have less access to the kinds of services that have been demonstrated to positively affect a broad spectrum of educational outcomes. According to Susan King of the U.S. Department of Labor: “(S)tudies have now documented that the quality of care children receive depends on the income of their parents. But, not just in a direct way. The best care of all types goes to middle and upper income families. Among families using childcare centers, the people who get the poorest quality care are the working poor and those whose incomes hover just above the poverty line, not the poorest families. This surprising finding appears to be due to these family’s differential access to subsidized childcare, Head Start, pre-kindergarten programs and so on. These programs are not available to the near poor, only to the very poor. For families not using centers, the lower the family income, the poorer the quality of care. We know that our poorest families are spending from a quarter to a third of their income on childcare, when they purchase childcare. The rest of us spend about 7% of our income on childcare. Taken together, it is a portrait of astonishing inequity in access to quality care and to the financial burden placed on families who are seeking to purchase it.”

Table 71: Licensed Capacity as a Percentage of Children

Needing Day Care (2002)
Lake		LaPorte	Porter	Indiana
Capacity per Child	30.0	14.0	14.0	28.0
Source: Indiana Business Research Center

The situation in Indiana was exacerbated in 2002 when the eligibility cutoff for daycare vouchers was decreased from 160% of the established poverty level to 140%.

Table 72: Children on Day Care Voucher Waiting List (2003)

Lake LaPorte Porter

2003 489 147 101 1990 867 99 113

Source: Indiana Youth Institute

Head Start is another program that promotes early childhood development. This highly acclaimed program provides free comprehensive, interdisciplinary preschool child development programs for eligible children and their families. Research has demonstrated that every dollar spent on the Head Start program saves $7 in public expenditures, including savings in the cost of special education, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and criminal activity. During the 2000-2001 program year, 13,570 Hoosier children were enrolled in Head Start early education centers.

Achievement in education is, in part, attributable to the support systems that students find in the communities in which they live. A community that values education and has high levels of educational attainment provides positive role models to students and can, in effect, supplement the efforts of parents and school systems.

More than one-third of all adults who reside in four school districts in Northwest Indiana lack a high school diploma: East Chicago; Lake Ridge; Lake Station; and River Forest. In all, ten school districts fall below the state average of 23.4% with respect to this measure. This suggests that additional support structures may be needed if sufficient support is to be provided to students who attend schools in these school districts.

Table 73: Percentage of Adults in District with Less than

H.S. Education (2002-2003)
Lake County	%
East Chicago	39.4
Lake Ridge	29.4
River Forest	29.1
Gary	26.7
Lake Station	24.8
Hammond	24.4
Whiting	20.1
Hobart	15.7
Hanover	14.2
Merrillville	13.3
Tri-Creek	11.8
Crown Point	12.4
Highland	12.2
Griffith	11.0
Lake Central	8.6
Munster	7.0
State Average	17.9

LaPorte County

South Central 26.9 Michigan City 20.8 LaPorte 17.6 New Durham 17.5 New Prairie 16.5 Dewey 9.6

State Average 17.9

Porter County

Portage 16.9 Boone 12.1 East Porter 11.9 Union 10.1 Duneland 9.7 Valparaiso 8.3 Porter 6.8

State Average 17.9

Source: Indiana Department of Education

Poverty is closely associated with poor educational outcomes. This problem is particularly acute in two school districts: Gary, where 36.7% of all families live in poverty; and East Chicago, where 34.4% of all families are poor. In all, the percentage of families living in poverty exceeds the state average in seven school districts in the region. It is important to note that poverty rather than race is the controlling variable with respect to the educational outcomes that are reported here. Although poor educational outcomes may appear to be endemic in communities with high concentrations of African-American and Hispanic students, this is largely a function of poverty rather than race or ethnicity.

Table 74: Percent of Families in District Below Poverty

Level (2002-2003)
Lake County	%
Gary	32.1
East Chicago	30.8
River Forest	19.5
Hammond	18.1
Whiting	17.7
Lake Ridge	15.3
Lake Station	14.4
Hobart	5.7
Tri-Creek	5.0
Munster	4.3
Crown Point	4.3
Hanover	4.0
Griffith	4.2
Highland	2.8
Lake Central	2.1
State Average	6.7

LaPorte County

Michigan City 12.1 LaPorte 9.4 New Durham 9.3 South Central 4.7 New Prairie 3.7 Dewey 3.6

State Average 6.7

Porter County

Portage 8.5 Valparaiso 6.1 Duneland 5.1 Union 4.8 Boone 3.8 Porter 3.4 East Porter 2.5

State Average 6.7

Source: Indiana Department of Education

Positive educational outcomes are also associated with stable and viable family structures. In six school districts located in the region, the percentage of families living in the school district that are headed by single parents exceeds the state average of 24.3%. In two districts, the percentages are more than twice as high as the state average: Gary at 55.5% and East Chicago at 50.5%. Again, this finding suggests that additional community-based support structures may be needed if the students living in these school districts are to achieve success.

Table 76: Percentage of Students Eligible for Free Lunch,

Table 75: Percentage of Students in District in Single
Parent Families (2002-2003)
Lake County	%
Gary	64.2
East Chicago	51.1
River Forest	40.0
Hammond	38.4
Lake Ridge	37.6
Lake Station	31.6
Whiting	29.2
Griffith	28.1
Hobart	25.9
Merrillville	22.6
Highland	19.4
Tri-Creek	16.1
Hanover	16.2
Munster	14.7
Crown Point	14.5
Lake Central	12.9
State Average	27.8

LaPorte County

Michigan City 37.2 LaPorte 26.7 New Durham 21.0 New Prairie 20.1 Dewey 17.4 South Central 13.1

State Average 27.8

Porter County

Portage 27.5 Duneland 22.8 Valparaiso 22.6 Boone 20.7 East Porter 13.1 Union 12.6 Porter 10.3

State Average 27.8

Source: Indiana Department of Education

The percentage of students in a school district who are eligible for free lunches represents another indicator of poverty, albeit an indirect one. The state average stands at 25.1%. In all, eligibility in eight school districts in the region

– seven in Lake County and one in LaPorte County – exceeds 40%. Although the association with poor educational outcomes is clear, it is important to again note that the causal variable is poverty rather than race or ethnicity.

(2002-2003)
Lake County	%
East Chicago	76.4
River Forest	62.6
Gary	58.4
Hammond	56.3
Lake Ridge	48.8
Whiting	46.4
Lake Station	43.6
Hobart	19.7
Merrillville	16.3
Hanover	13.4
Tri-Creek	11.7
Griffith	11.2
Crown Point	9.0
Highland	6.6
Lake Central	6.3
Munster	3.8
State Average	25.1

LaPorte County

Michigan City 41.1 LaPorte 22.6 New Durham 18.9 Dewey Township 12.4 New Prairie 11.5 South Central 7.5

State Average 25.1

Porter County

Portage 21.9 Duneland 13.0 Valparaiso 11.1 Boone Township 8.5 East Porter County 7.2 Union Township 6.5 Porter Township 6.1

State Average 25.1

Source: Indiana Department of Education

6.4 Other Factors

Our fourth set of indicators includes three measures that we believe bear watching over the months and years to come: total expenditures per pupil; attendance; and suspensions and expulsions. On their face, they are not closely correlated with the outcomes that are described above. Nevertheless, expenditures per pupil can serve as a gross indicator of a community’s commitment to education. This data can also illustrate the extent to which supplemental resources are being marshaled to ameliorate the pervasive effects of poverty. Further, data pertaining to attendance and expulsions and suspensions can shed light on a school district’s strategy for dealing with its most challenging students.

It should not be surprising that average expenditures per student are not highly correlated with educational outcomes. In Northwest Indiana, the school systems that report the highest average expenditures also report some of the region’s most alarming educational outcomes. Again, the dearth of community-based support structures and stable and viable family structures are more telling in this regard. Unfortunately, the precise amount of supplemental resources that are needed to compensate for these challenges is less well understood.

Table 77: Average Expense per Student (2000-2002)
Lake County	$
Lake Ridge	13,315
East Chicago	10,849
Hammond	10,592
Whiting	10,065
Gary	9,814
Lake Station	9,487
Griffith	9,415
Crown Point	9,254
Merrillville	9,228
Munster	8,967
River Forest	8,803
Tri-Creek	8,134
Lake Central	7,770
Hobart	7,768
Highland	7,554
Hanover	7,470
State Average	8,676

LaPorte County

Dewey 10,778 Michigan City 9,295 New Durham 8,850 New Prairie 8,241 LaPorte 8,087 South Central 7,872

State Average 8,676

Porter County

Valparaiso 9,906 East Porter 9,319 Duneland 9,017 Porter 8,636 Union 8,083 Portage 8,072 Boone 7,718

State Average 8,676

Source: Indiana Department of Education

Only six school systems in Lake County, three in LaPorte County, and one in Porter County, report attendance rates below the state’s average attendance rate of 95.9%. In fact, there is very little variability among Northwest Indiana’s school systems with respect to this measurement category. More importantly, there is no clear correlation between school attendance and student performance, at least at the institutional level of analysis.

As is noted in section 10.0 of this report, however, local police officials report that a high percentage of those students who are habitually truant eventually come into contact with the police. School attendance is thus important not only for the sake of learning. Regular attendance also precludes delinquent behavior.

Table 78: Attendance Rate (2000-2002)
Lake County	%
Munster	96.8
Griffith	96.6
Lake Central	96.5
Gary	96.5
Whiting	96.0
Merrillville	95.9
Hanover	95.9
Highland	95.9
Crown Point	95.8
River Forest	95.5
Hammond	95.3
Lake Station	95.3
Hobart	95.2
Tri-Creek	94.8
East Chicago	94.8
Lake Ridge	93.2
State Average	95.7
LaPorte County
New Prairie	96.7
New Dunham	96.3
Dewey	96.3
South Central	96.1
LaPorte	96.0
Michigan City	94.6
State Average	95.7
Porter County
Union	96.7
East Porter	96.6
Boone	96.5
Duneland	96.1
Porter	95.7
Portage	94.9
Valparaiso	Not Reported
State Average	95.7
Source: Indiana Department of Education

It is clear that school districts in Northwest Indiana have adopted very different strategies with respect to discipline. A no tolerance policy is now in effect in some school districts, while in others, disciplinary problems are either less prevalent or otherwise resolved. It is important to assess the consequences of expelling high numbers of students, however, both with respect to learning and to the community as a whole. Unfortunately, we have very little data pertaining to this issue. At a minimum, a formal study on this topic is needed.

Table 79: Suspensions/Expulsions per 100 Students, (2001

2002)
Lake County	%
East Chicago	58.6
Hammond	47.6
River Forest	40.9
Lake Ridge	40.8
Gary	28.6
Merrillville	27.7
Whiting	26.2
Lake Station	19.9
Tri-Creek	17.0
Crown Point	13.3
Hanover	10.5
Hobart	10.4
Griffith	9.7
Lake Central	8.7
Highland	4.0
Munster	3.5
State Average	14.7
LaPorte County
Michigan City	38.7
New Durham	10.7
LaPorte	9.4
New Prairie	9.0
Dewey	4.6
South Central	0.9
State Average	14.7
Porter County
Portage	18.0
Duneland	11.0
Porter	5.9
Union	5.7
Boone	4.3
Valparaiso	3.0
East Porter	2.3
State Average	14.7
Source: Indiana Department of Education

6.5 Literacy

Literacy can be a silent disease or reflect the spirit of life-long learning, dependent upon the person’s skills level. In all, 40% of Northwest Indiana residents read below the 5th grade level.

Over the last fifty years, the labor market has shifted from 60% manual labor and 20% professional services to 65% professional services and 15% manual labor. This shift creates a skills mismatch between workers and job requirements, a key element in gainful employment and economic development.

The 1992 US Department of Education’s National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) defined adult reading skills as ranging from level 1 (lowest) to level 5 (highest). The study found that 21-23% of the US adult population has reading skills only at level 1; in Indiana, 16% of the adults performed at a level

1. According to most sources, adults need to function at a level 3 or higher to be successful today. Projecting the NALS data onto 2000 Census data for Northwest Indiana, 47% or 287,409 adults function at a low literacy levels. Additionally, 18% of the region’s residents have less than a high school diploma.

Since 1999, The Discovery Alliance (TDA), has served as a champion of local literacy activities and services. In 2003, the TDA initiated the development of a Regional Literacy Plan, which will be launched in Spring 2005. It will be aimed at improving literacy levels in Northwest Indiana for children, youth and adults. This initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, will address the skills gap and provide learners with the literacy tools needed for success. This collaborative effort will include TDA, a number of literacy organizations, business and government leaders, faith-based and community organizations and learners. It will contribute to the development of service capacity, serve as an advocate for literacy, establish accountability systems, build awareness, and align governance and administrative infrastructure to support its workforce literacy goals.

Table 80: Adult Literacy Estimates at Level 1 or 2, (2000)

Lake		LaPorte	Porter
Percent	52	46	34
Source: The Discovery Alliance, 2004

Note: Estimates are based on projected data from the 2000 Census and 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey.

The urban core of Gary, East Chicago and Michigan City experience even lower literacy levels at 79%, 75% and 54% respectively.

Table 81: Literacy Levels by Area (2001)
Level 1	Level 1 or 2
Indiana 16	27
Northwest Indiana 17	27
Lake County 24	28
Crown Point 14	22
East Chicago 41	34
Gary 46	33
Griffith 10	26
Hammond 20	31
Highland 12