Deep Driver: Education
During the decade, Louisville forged unprecedented community collaboration and commitment to raise education attainment, and it is paying off, with the most recent year of data confirming a leap forward first noted last year.
Louisville registered the second highest rate of improvement among its peer cities in the educational levels of both young adults and the working-age population as a whole, moving up from 11th to 8th and 9th in its rankings against peer cities – during a decade when no other city moved up more than one slot.
Young women are leading the way with 39% of those age 25-34 holding a Bachelor’s Degree or higher -- indicating that they are likely to reach the community goal of 40% early in the decade. Young men have not kept pace, however, with only 33% holding a degree.
And progress among women contrasts sharply with the persistence of the racial achievement gap. Just 14% of Louisville’s African American population holds a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, one of the lowest levels among its peer cities.
The racial achievement gap manifests early in elementary and secondary school, where minority children persistently lag behind their white and Hispanic counterparts on state achievement tests. While recent data showed a decline in the number of students dropping out of JCPS high schools, the graduation rate (a different calculation) has hovered between 70% and 75% for the entire decade - meaning that at least one out of every four students does not graduate on time.
Deep Driver: Education
During the decade, Louisville forged unprecedented community collaboration and commitment to raise education attainment, and it is paying off, with the most recent year of data confirming a leap forward first noted last year.
Louisville registered the second highest rate of improvement among its peer cities in the educational levels of both young adults and the working-age population as a whole, moving up from 11th to 8th and 9th in its rankings against peer cities – during a decade when no other city moved up more than one slot.
Young women are leading the way with 39% of those age 25-34 holding a Bachelor’s Degree or higher -- indicating that they are likely to reach the community goal of 40% early in the decade. Young men have not kept pace, however, with only 33% holding a degree.
And progress among women contrasts sharply with the persistence of the racial achievement gap. Just 14% of Louisville’s African American population holds a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, one of the lowest levels among its peer cities.
The racial achievement gap manifests early in elementary and secondary school, where minority children persistently lag behind their white and Hispanic counterparts on state achievement tests. While recent data showed a decline in the number of students dropping out of JCPS high schools, the graduation rate (a different calculation) has hovered between 70% and 75% for the entire decade - meaning that at least one out of every four students does not graduate on time.