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How Marion County could close the racial achievement gap for students

The Fairbanks Foundation has outlined five steps to help students in Marion County.

INDIANAPOLIS —

Marion County has a significant achievement gap between white students and students of color. The Fairbanks Foundation has released a report with five ways to help fix that problem.

According to SAT data this year, white high school juniors are four times more likely to be proficient in math than their Black and Hispanic classmates. ILEARN scores show a significant gap in third and eighth grades as well.

The new report found that improving early childhood education is the first step to helping with the issue. Indiana has a "Paths to Quality" rating system for child care and early learning programs.

The program is voluntary for now, but the report recommends making it mandatory. It also suggests focusing the ratings on learning outcomes instead of other factors.

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The report also found Indiana should close funding gaps between poor schools and wealthy schools. There is currently a 53% gap between the funding of the poorest schools and the wealthiest ones. Per-student funding for low-income households is down 35% since 2015. Fairbanks suggests the state rework its funding to close those gaps.

Targeting achievement gaps specifically is the third step in the report. It found that 70% of Black and Hispanic students are in low-performance schools. That compares to white students, where just 36% are in low-performance schools. One solution the report recommends is recruiting more diverse teachers and administrators. It also calls on schools to enroll students of color in more advanced classes.

RELATED: 85% of students, but only 26% of teachers, at IPS are Black or Latinx | Here's how the district plans to change that

Another step in the report is targeting college readiness and enrollment. currently, 69% of Indiana's Black students are eligible for the 21st Century Scholars program. But only 17% are actually enrolled. Fairbanks suggests the state automatically enroll eligible students in the program.

Another step they recommend is making students enroll in FAFSA for student aid to graduate high school.

Finally, the report pushes to increase college completion rates for nonwhite students. Right now, only 30% of Black Hoosiers finish a four-year degree on time. The longer a student takes to graduate, the more likely they are to drop out instead. The report recommends giving them mentorship and academic support. They also suggest micro-grants to help them cope with emergencies.

MORE: IPS teacher using new resources to immerse students in Hispanic culture

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