Mecklenburg County Index of Readiness and Literacy

Harrison S. Campbell

Department of Geography and Earth Science

UNC-Charlotte

Terri M. Manning

Planning and Research

Central Piedmont Community College

Why a Literacy Index

Project initiated by Charlotte Reads. There was a desire of have a “measuring

stick” to mark progress in literacy annually. Measurement would help constituent groups

focus interventions on specific groups. To our knowledge, no other county in the

country is doing this.

Literacy by Definition

The US Congress incorporated the following definition of literacy into the National Literacy Act of 1991:

“an individual’s ability to read, write and speak English and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential”

The Value of a Functionally Literate Community

The Best Prevention is a Real Future

Savings for Business and the Community Relationship of Education to Social Problems

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

<HS degree HS degree 1 yrs college AA 3 yrs college BA/BS BA/BS +

% unemployment

% welfare

% smoking

days absent

% alcohol abuse

% incarceration

Source: CC Benefits, Economic Impact Study

Benefits for the Individual-Average Annual Earnings Based on Years of Education

AverageEducation Level Earnings + Value

Less than HS degree $16,451 High school degree $24,498 +$8,048 Certificate or diploma $28,902 +$4,403 Associate degree $31,138 +$2,236 Three years of college $35,846 +$4,708 Bachelors degree $40,453 +$4,607 Masters or 5 years $49,629 +$9,176

Source: CC Benefits, Economic Impact Study

Major Difficulties with a Literacy Index

No data are available annually on the educational attainment of adults.

The Census measures educational attainment once every ten years.

Obtaining a true measure of educational attainment is cost-prohibitive (surveying county residents) .

An alternative source was selected that was benchmarked again the Census data.

Data Elements Used in the Index

Pre-K, 3rd, 4th and 8th grade data from CMS and private schools

Graduation numbers from CMS and private schools

Adult (22+) data (highest grade completed) from the ESC (benchmarked against the 1990 and 2000 educational data from Census)

Data Elements Were Weighted

Based on:

– Population numbers in school per age group– Total operative population of the county by year (removing

those we don’t expect to be literate or above working age)– Conversion of percentages to scaled scores (1-10)

For Example…. One small piece of the puzzle

Population of Mecklenburg County

1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02Operative population totals 566,150 580,984 599,516 632,208

(removing all unaffected individuals, preschoolers, retired, etc.)

Population 0-18 yrs 224,880 230,891 238,259 247,814Population in CMS 97,586 99,403 102,013 105,172Population in private schools 16,707 17,018 17,465 17,246Total in School 114,293 116,421 119,478 122,418Percent in school 20.2% 20.0% 19.9% 19.4%

(total in school divided by the operational population)

Using 3rd Grade as an example…..

In 2000-2001: CMS Private Schools

Population 8,719 1,493

Percent passing EOGs 72.8% 84.5%

Scaled Score 7.28 8.45

Weighted value .0145 .0025

(based on grade population divided by operative total population)

Value in Overall Index .11 .02

(based on weighted value times the scaled score)

The Primary Grade Levels Component(K-8) 1999 - 2002

7.157.33

7.59

7.93

5.00

5.50

6.00

6.50

7.00

7.50

8.00

1999 2000 2001 2002

Writing Assessment excluded from formula in 2002

As the School System Makes Progress in Primary Grades

The index is only slightly

affected because they account

for a small piece of the total

population

Secondary Levels (9th – 12th)1999 - 2002

8.02 7.89 7.787.88

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

1999 2000 2001 2002

Writing Assessment excluded from formula in 2002

When Secondary Level Progress Declines…

The index is even less affected

because secondary

students represent a smaller

portion of the population

than primary students.

Adult Component 1999 - 2002

8.67 8.61 8.46 8.59

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

1999 2000 2001 2002

As the County Looks at Educational Attainment in Adults..

The Index can be greatly affected

because adults make up

the vast majority of

the population.

We must make

an impact on adults.

How does the ESC data compare to the Census data?

81.981.6

72.470

77.6

86.186.281.8

78.181.6

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

US NC MSA Meck ESC (22+)

1990

2000

Percent with high school degree

Weights Used in Index, 2002

79.86%

4.59%

15.19%

Primary

Secondary

Adult

Actual Index 1999 - 2002

8.41 8.39 8.3 8.45

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1999 2000 2001 2002

For a Color Copy of this Presentation:

Go to:

http://inside.cpcc.edu/planning/studies_reports And click on “Readiness and Literacy Index”