Youth at the Center
The Youth at the Center theme encompasses the following topics: Child Well-being, Education Quality, and Educational Attainment. For the vast majority of these metrics, we have centered children and young people as the topic of study. This means when we are looking at issues related to schools, we frame our findings in terms of the students enrolled in those schools.
The higher the score on a scale from 1 to 100, the closer we are toward achieving equity. The lower the score, the greater the disparity.
Child Well-Being
Child Well-being examines the disadvantages and burdens that children carry with them from outside of school that affect their ability to perform in school.
Scores are an average of this topic’s indicator scores within each county.
St. Louis City
St. Louis County
St. Charles County
St. Clair County
| Indicator | St. Louis City Equity Score | St. Louis County Equity Score | St. Charles County Equity Score | St. Clair County Equity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child Poverty | 29 | 20 | 25 | 31 |
| Child Food Insecurity | 17 | 11 | 12 | 4 |
| Child Emergency Room Visits | 27 | 30 | 50 | 56 |
| Child Asthma | 1 | 2 | 27 | 36 |
| Child Lead Poisoning | 51 | 38 | NS | NS |
| Chronic Absenteeism | 58 | 40 | 69 | NS |
| Low Birthweight | 39 | 39 | 45 | 40 |
| Youth STD Rates | 2 | 1 | 27 | NS |
For indicators with a score of NS, there is no data readily available.
What does this mean for child-wellbeing?
Black children are more likely to live in poverty than children of any other race.
This means they are more likely to live in substandard housing and experience food insecurity. Black children are more likely to experience place-based disadvantages, such as exposure to crime and environmental issues, which result in higher levels of trauma and other negative health impacts.
Black children are less likely to have positive interactions with supportive institutions.
They are more likely to visit emergency rooms for injuries, illnesses, and diseases of all kinds. In particular, black children are far more likely to experience illnesses that are known to impact attendance and performance in school, including asthma and lead poisoning.
Black children are more likely to have negative interactions with punitive institutions and less likely to have positive interactions with supportive institutions.
Black children have higher contact with the courts for delinquency and are less likely to attend school regularly.
Education Quality
Education Quality focuses on access to effective learning environments in public and charter schools across the city.
Scores are an average of this topic’s indicator scores within each county.
St. Louis City
St. Louis County
St. Charles County
St. Clair County
| Indicator | St. Louis City Equity Score | St. Louis County Equity Score | St. Charles County Equity Score | St. Clair County Equity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Test Scores | 19 | 30 | 100 | NS |
| Teacher Attendance | 67 | 100 | 100 | 90 |
| Suspensions | 32 | 16 | 27 | 12 |
| Pre-K Enrollment | 67 | 53 | 0 | 65 |
| Advanced Placement Enrollment | 40 | 36 | 39 | 38 |
| Third-Grade Reading Proficiency | 37 | 43 | 60 | NS |
| Sixth-Grade Math Proficiency | 36 | 33 | 40 | NS |
| High School Advanced Math | 74 | 65 | 48 | 26 |
For indicators with a score of NS, there is no data readily available.
Why does this change children’s lives?
Black children are less likely to be enrolled in higher performing K-12 schools.
Black children are less likely than white children to be students at these higher performing schools. Black children in St. Louis City and St. Clair are also more likely to attend schools where more teachers are chronically absent.
Black children are less likely to be enrolled in the most rigorous coursework available at their school.
At schools that offer Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, white students are more than twice as likely as black students to be enrolled in these challenging courses.
Black children are less likely to be in school at all.
Black children are less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education programs such as pre-kindergarten. In addition, black students are being removed from school via out-of-school suspensions for disciplinary issues more often than white students. In fact, the disparity of suspensions across the region indicates the most significant area for improvement in 3 out of the 4 counties studied.
Black children are less likely to be learning what they need to succeed.
At key milestones such as third grade for reading and sixth grade for math, black students are less likely to demonstrate proficiency across all counties where data are available.
Educational Attainment
Educational Attainment studies the educational attainment levels of the entire population and highlights young adult outcomes.
Scores are an average of this topic’s indicator scores within each county.
St. Louis City
St. Louis County
St. Charles County
St. Clair County
| Indicator | St. Louis City Equity Score | St. Louis County Equity Score | St. Charles County Equity Score | St. Clair County Equity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High School Graduate Population | 78 | 88 | 91 | 84 |
| High School Graduation Rate | 100 | 84 | 92 | NS |
| Disconnected Youth | 54 | 100 | 23 | 76 |
| Bachelor's Degree Population | 34 | 39 | 67 | 46 |
| College Enrollment Rate | 68 | 79 | 57 | 68 |
| College Graduation Rate | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 |
| Some College, No Degree Population | 65 | 51 | 100 | 79 |
| Graduate Degree Population | 28 | 38 | 58 | 51 |
For indicators with a score of NS, there is no data readily available.
How does this affect educational attainment?
Black residents are less likely than white residents to attain all levels of education.
There are disparities in educational attainment at the high school, college, and graduate school levels.
Black students enroll in local colleges but are far less likely to graduate.
While nearly three-fourths of white students at the same colleges graduate within six years, less than one-third of black college students graduate in a timely manner or at all. Although there are racial disparities in the rate at which young adults enroll in college, there is not racial disparity for mature students or the adult population overall.
Black residents are more likely to live in “credential limbo.”
Over a quarter of black St. Louisans have some college