A Poor Poverty Measure: To Identify Children in Need, Look beyond Free Lunch Data

Autor/inn/en	Fazlul, Ishtiaque; Koedel, Cory; Parsons, Eric
Titel	A Poor Poverty Measure: To Identify Children in Need, Look beyond Free Lunch Data
Quelle	In: Education Next, 23 (2023) 2, S.48-53 (6 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1539-9664
Schlagwörter	Lunch Programs; Student Needs; Identification; Poverty; Family Income; Measurement; Program Design; Data Use; Educational Policy; Educational Finance; Eligibility + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mittagessen; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Armut; Familieneinkommen; Messverfahren; Programme design; Programmaufbau; Programmplanung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Bildungsfonds; Eignung
Abstract	Among the 50 states, 44 use free and reduced-price lunch enrollment to identify low-income students. These data are also commonly used to allocate federal, state, and local funding to schools serving low-income children. School and district poverty rates, as determined by free and reduced-price lunch enrollment, additionally feature prominently in social science research, school-funding lawsuits, state laws and regulations, and philanthropic investment. However a close look shows that free and reduced-price meal designations in the National School Lunch Program are grossly inaccurate indicators of family income. While it has been understood for some time that school lunch enrollment as a poverty indicator is blunt and prone to error, the magnitude of the problem has not yet been fully appreciated. In exploring the rules, features, and processes of the National School Lunch Program, the authors find that the program's design, incentives, and lack of income-verification enforcement likely contribute to the oversubscription. These findings raise important questions about the administration of a program that supports the nutrition of American schoolchildren as well as key datasets driving policy and funding decisions across the country. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Education Next Institute, Inc. Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman 310, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; Fax: 617-496–4428; e-mail: Education_Next@hks.harvard.edu; Web site: https://www.educationnext.org/the-journal/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01