Creative Melting Pot

No matter what someone’s circumstances are, everyone is entitled to an education. After all, knowledge is fundamental for both personal and career-centered growth, and denying anyone access to it is immoral. However, accessibility does not mean equality. And the unfortunate truth is that Indiana students in smaller schools are simply not being given the education they need in order to survive and thrive in the world.

Hard evidence for this disparity came from a study by the School Corporation and Student Outcomes: An Update and Extensions that was produced by Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) and originally commissioned by Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Notable results in this study found that school districts with under less than 2,000 students had poorer performances in many standardized tests. For example, average ILEARN scores were an entire eight points lower (20% lower overall) than in school districts with 2,000 to 2,999 enrolled students. It was also found that these students in small districts also generally had less access to higher-level courses as well as courses designed to prepare them for college. While these numbers might not seem significant on the surface, it becomes much more worrying when you take into account that 56% (290) of Indiana schools have below 2,000 enrolled students with a staggering 5% of all students enrolled in districts with less than 1,000 enrolled students. And to make matters even worse, it’s been proven that school districts are only shrinking – with 74% of 162 districts with smaller student bodies reporting even fewer enrollments over the past decade.

Thankfully, there are some ways to help close this massive gap in education. In the study project mentioned earlier, it was found that even a 1% enrollment increase in schools with fewer than 2,000 students is shown to help these institutions see massive improvement. This comes most clearly in SAT scores, which rose an entire 9%, or over 90 points on average. Meanwhile, school districts with at least 1,000 students saw 13 point increase in the eighth grade ILEARN test, a 10 point increase for IREAD, and an overall 17 point increase in the number of graduated students going to college. Overall, the message is clear. We cannot improve the education of Indiana children alone. Only by coming together and supporting both big and small districts can we ensure that every child is given an equal opportunity at a meaningful education.