Amazing, interactive map

If you are interested in analyzing the poverty/income data for any zip code in the Untied States, look here.

What you'll find is an amazing, interactive map with the data buried just beneath your cursor!

The limits of data and statistics

Recently, I ran across a couple of insightful essays by New York Times columnist, David Brooks.  Both dealt with the limitations of data.

Read his first piece here.

Read Brooks' second article here.

Interesting stuff.

I passed both columns along to a group of my friends.  Among the responses that I received is this one from one of my partners at CitySquare, Rev. Gerald Britt:

Brook’s column gets at something I’m trying to put some language around. You might remember an editorial in The Dallas Morning News that suggested that out of 3000 kids in 10 selected zip codes, only 26 graduated college ready. I asked a friend of mine, a former school teacher to help me with some research on these stats and she showed figures that revealed that in those same 10 zip codes, nearly 500 kids successfully completed their first year of college.

But she also said some other things in her reply that supports what Brooks said, “Traditional college readiness indicators for low income, minority, and ESL students do not measure motivation, persistence, and the ability of students to increase their ability to do college work over time. Research has shown for decades that SAT scores are not accurate indicators of college readiness for low income kids.”

“The college readiness standards used by the state are overkill. Admittedly, these high schools have a long way to go in recruiting teacher talent and programming, but the data used by StudentsFirst does not trace the successful kids in magnets and early colleges back to these zip codes.”

We here more and more about solutions to problems in education being ‘data-driven’, but, as Brooks points out – data is a tool and we’ve got to be attuned to more indicators than simply outputs and outcomes.

  

Thoughts?  

Record poverty levels. . .

One of CitySquare's great board members sent me this summary of last Wednesday's report on the dramatic growth of poverty in the U.S. over the past year. 

Dramatic. 

Sobering. 

Sadly challenging. 

Difficult beyond words.


The Dallas Morning News has an article on the front page today:  Poverty in US Reaches Record. 

46.2 million now live at or below the official poverty line.

Poverty line for family of four is $22,314.00.

Texas poverty rate is up 9% to 18.4%. National average is 15.1%.

Breakdown is:

Blacks – 27.4%
Hispanic – 26.6%
Asian – 12.1%
White, non-hispanic – 9.9%

Since 2001 median household income has fallen 6.4% to $49,445 in 2010.

Concerning numbers indeed.

Poverty and the 2009 American Community Survey

The 2009 American Community Survey data is now available and can be accessed on the U. S. Census Bureau's very helpful website.  Take a look here.

Concerning poverty, consider. . .

Nationally, the percentage of households learning below $25,000 annually stands at 24.7% in 2009.  That's up from 23.6% in 2008; 23% in 2007; 23.6% in 2006.

Closer to home here in Texas, the percentage of children under 18-years-old living in poverty in 2009 came in at 24.4 statewide; 27.7 for Dallas County; 35.4 for the city of Dallas. 

These numbers translate to lots of miserable situations for children and families in our communities.

Much work to do.  Many changes needed.

Texas poverty growing. . .

This press release came on Thursday, September 16, 2010 from the Texas Food Bank Network:

Census: 17.3% of Texans Live in Poverty


2.5% Increase in Child Poverty Demands Action, Say Advocates

New Census data released this morning revealed that 4,262,000 Texans (17.3%), including 1,774,000 children (25.6%), lived under the federal poverty line in 2009. These new numbers represent a 1.4% rise in poverty statewide, and a 2.5% jump in child poverty over the previous year.

The sharp rise in child poverty comes at a time when Congress is considering legislation, known as the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, that would feed more hungry children.

“If these numbers don’t convey a sense of urgency, I don’t know what will,” said JC Dwyer, State Policy Director of the Texas Food Bank Network. “We need Congress to act now to ensure that all our children have access to basic nutrition as they learn and grow.”

In 2009, the poverty line for a family of four in Texas was $22,050. Research has shown that growing up in persistent poverty poses high risks to child health and development, particularly when children are faced with malnutrition.

The legislation under debate would strengthen the nation’s most successful child nutrition programs, including school meals, summer meals and after-school snacks. However, advocates are concerned that legislators may try to offset the cost of improvements by cutting other programs for the poor, notably SNAP (aka food stamps).

“Clearly, now is not the time to divest in the institutions we’ve created to address these problems,” said Dwyer, referencing both federal and state programs. “We need them now more than ever.”

The Texas Food Bank Network provides a unified voice among nineteen food banks in support of a common mission to end hunger in Texas. Follow breaking news, commentary and analysis at Twitter.com/TexansVsHunger.