Each year since 1990, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has published the KIDS COUNT Data Book to track the well-being of children nationally and in every state. When the first Data Book was launched 25 years ago, the hope was that it would raise public awareness and build public commitment to invest in solutions to ensure that each and every child…

Forty years ago, a teenager leaving high school--with or without a diploma--could find a job in a local factory. Twenty years ago, even as manufacturing jobs moved offshore, young people could still gain a foothold in the workforce through neighborhood stores and restaurants. Amid the housing boom of the past decade, youth with some training could…

Educators and researchers have long recognized the importance of mastering reading by the end of third grade. Students who fail to reach this critical milestone often falter in the later grades and drop out before earning a high school diploma. This study relies on a unique national database of 3,975 students born between 1979 and 1989. The…

For the past 21 years, the KIDS COUNT project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation has tracked the well-being of children at the national, state, and local levels. Over the years, the foundation's work has documented both great progress in child well-being and periodic setbacks. The 10 key indicators tracked in the KIDS COUNT Data Book over the past…

Researchers use many different methods to calculate the high school dropout rate, and depending on the approach, the numbers can look very different. But, no matter which method is used, the key finding is the same: too many students are leaving school without the knowledge and skills they need to meet the demands of twenty-first century…