Law allows for opt outs of standardized tests | Polk County Itemizer-Observer

Law allows for opt outs of standardized tests | Polk County Itemizer-Observer:

Law Allows For Opt Outs Of Standardized Tests

If school districts don’t meet 95 percent participation rates, they could stand to lose federal money

SALEM — The landscape of statewide assessments — currently Smarter Balanced Assessments — is in question after Gov. Kate Brown signed a law allowing parents to more easily opt children out.

#The law is not without controversy, as roughly $140 million in federal funding statewide is dependent on at least 95 percent of students participating in the standardized tests.

Buzz Brazeau

#Last year, only about 10 students were excused from the tests in Central School District, said Buzz Brazeau, superintendent.

#Whether or not the new law will affect participation rates next year is difficult to say.

#“It’s hard for me to tell,” he said. “I would hope (we don’t get more opting out), but I think it depends on how well people are informed.”

#For some, including Central Education Association president and CHS English teacher Ben Gorman, the new law is a win for educators and parents.

#“My guess is that, when parents realize that the test data isn’t actually used to help their individual student, many will decide any activity in which their child learns something is preferable to an unnecessary test,” Gorman said.

#Kimber Townsend is a mother of two Central students, one was a junior last year and the other attended Talmadge Middle School. She opted both of her children out of Smarter Balanced last year, calling it a family decision.

#A couple factors contributed to that decision.

#“I work in the College of Education at Western Oregon University,” she said. “I hear conversations about standardized testing from faculty, the dean and administration. How do we feel about it, how will this affect our students (at WOU). Standardized testing goes against every best practice that we teach our student teachers.”

#Standardized tests are developed by people who make tests, not by educators, Townsend said.

#“With more and more blended classrooms, all learning levels and skill levels in the same room, standardized testing doesn’t work,” she said. “They’re not standardized students.”

#Perhaps a bigger motive behind opting out her students was because of the missed classroom time.

#“When my student says to me, these are challenging classes, what happens if I miss four days — they actually pull them (students) out and coach them how to pass,” Townsend said. “Four days of testing, plus prep time.”

#Brazeau said Smarter Balanced took roughly 11,500 hours of testing time last year.

#Gorman said the time spent testing gets in the way of teaching.

#“We have to give up significant instructional time to testing every year,” he said. “Combine that with one of the shortest school years in the country, and Oregon’s kids get almost a full year less instruction (over the course of 12 years) than students from most states.”

Michelle Johnstone

#Michelle Johnstone, Dallas School District’s new superintendent, said she agrees that students spend too much time taking state assessments.

#“The thing that worries me is how much time it takes,” she said, adding it’s counterintuitive to requirements schools increase time students spend in the classroom.

#That’s especially true when the results aren’t provided to the districts in a timely manner, she said.

#That being said, she understands the need for testing in some form to make sure teachers and districts are doing their job educating children.

#“Kids have to be measured somehow,” she said. “Now, do we have to do it excessively? No.”

#Previous to Dallas, Johnstone was a superintendent in Colorado, where the Legislature also allowed for more opt outs.

#The federal government put the state on notice that it could lose funding if too many students weren’t tested.

#She’s worried the same thing will happen in Oregon.

#“It makes me a little nervous to say parents can opt out for any reason,” she said, adding:

#“It puts districts in a really bad spot.”

#The threat of losing funding should enough parents in Oregon opt out of the testing is real, but it may not Law allows for opt outs of standardized tests | Polk County Itemizer-Observer:

Hillary's Family Ties to School Privatizers, and Diane Ravitch's Review of Hoosier School Heist | Black Agenda Report

Hillary's Family Ties to School Privatizers, and Diane Ravitch's Review of Hoosier School Heist | Black Agenda Report:

Hillary's Family Ties to School Privatizers, and Diane Ravitch's Review of Hoosier School Heist

By Doug Martin at Hoosier School Heist Blog, and Diane Ravitch

Last week the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy, without consulting more than a token slice of the union's membership. It's hard not to know that AFT leaders have turned their backs on teachers and thrown in with the privatizing politicians and consultants. Hillary too has her own family ties to school privatizers.

Hillary's Family Ties to School Privatizers, and Diane Ravitch's Review of Hoosier School Heist

By Doug Martin at Hoosier School Heist Blog, and Diane Ravitch

1. Hillary and the Privatizers

A while back, Hillary Clinton, speaking the talk of the working class as all Wall Street DC Democrats do, lashed out at top hedge fund managers for “making more than all of America’s kindergarten teachers combined.”  Hillary’s statement was mere deception. Not because it wasn't the truth; but because Hillary happens to love hedge fund managers and banksters.

Hedge fund managers seek to privatize education and steal pensions from teachers, as I detail in my bookHoosier School Heist, and wipe out what is left of the middle class.  And Hillary is all about that. 

In fact, Hillary’s son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky, is a hedge fund manager.  His fund, Eaglevale Partners, recently lost a little money in Greece, a country which cannot pay back loans to billionaires, banksters, and hedge fund managers who have set in place legalized stealing in the form of disaster capitalism.  

One of the chief structures behind disaster capitalism across the planet is the World Bank, which Hillary once wanted to lead. 

As a New York Times piece noted, Eaglevale Partners is a “fund that makes trades based on global economic and political events.” Several investors in Hillary’s son-in-law’s hedge fund, as the New York Times alsopointed out, have ties to the Clintons and have even funded Hillary’s campaign chest. Goldman Sachs is one of these.  As of November 2010, Goldman Sachs, through its Charter School Loan Facility, was funding 130 charter schools across the US.  Hillary’s son-in-law was once a Goldman Sachs employee.

As for Bill?  Bill Clinton has been behind the for-profit charter school movement since its inception, as many now know. Last year, he even spoke at a Nashville charter school operated by one of Chelsea’s old college sweethearts. 

Recently an outfit spreading charter schools in India was honored at the Clinton Global Initiative, and MarcMezvinsky, Clinton’s hedge fund son-in-law, was there for the photo-op.

Disaster capitalism is the leading force behind the assault on public schools.  And be sure that Hillary, hedge fund managers, Goldman Sachs, and Randi Weingarten will help further its agenda.

DC is a lost cause.  And so are the teachers unions. Sleep good at night. Focus your energy on the state level and make plans for a real revolution, before global warming kills us all off. 

Doug Martin is the author of Hoosier School Heist : How Corporations and Theocrats Stole Democracy From Public Education, a book being read in over 130 cities and towns and 78 Indiana counties, 23 states, and the District of Columbia.  A regular guest on national and Indiana radio talk shows such as Justin Oakley’s Just Let Me Teach and Amos Brown’s Afternoons with Amos, Dr. Martin’s research has been or will soon be featured in the Washington Post Answer Sheet , ABC’sNightline, and the Associated Press. 

2. Diane Ravitch, review of Hoosier School Heist

Every so often, I run into someone who says that he or she cannot take seriously the claim that there is such a thing as a “privatization” movement. They think that charter schools are public schools (I do not) and they scoff at any concern about for-profit schools. They say things like, “There have always been for-profit businesses in education, selling tests, textbooks, supplies, etc., why does it matter if some corporations run Hillary's Family Ties to School Privatizers, and Diane Ravitch's Review of Hoosier School Heist | Black Agenda Report:

New Education Reform PAC Launches With Help from Bowser - Loose Lips

New Education Reform PAC Launches With Help from Bowser - Loose Lips:

New Education Reform PAC Launches With Help from Bowser 

Candidates in the 2016 D.C. Council and State Board of Education races will have another PAC to court. Democrats for Education Reform-D.C., a new PAC with a connected independent expenditure, is looking to fund candidates in next year's races.

The PAC, the local branch of Democrats for Education Reform, launched last week at the home of former Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. Muriel Bowser gave a speech, while former Mayor Tony Williams, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd, and Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May also attended. (Todd and May won their seats in April with help from DFER.)

DFER-D.C. Director Catharine Bellinger says the group wants to back candidates who will "expand access to quality seats in schools." For her, that means backing flexibility for principals and increasing attendance at successful schools.

Prominent DFER critic Diane Ravitch, meanwhile, has called the group's national organization "the go-to place for candidates who hope to tap into Wall Street campaign funds."

Bellinger says the PAC hasn't decided on which races to back candidates in New Education Reform PAC Launches With Help from Bowser - Loose Lips:

PAA Week July 19-25: Final Schedule and Session Links | Parents Across America

PAA Week July 19-25: Final Schedule and Session Links | Parents Across America:

PAA Week July 19-25: Final Schedule and Session Links 

Time to get ready for PAA Week! Let’s go!

All public sessions will be recorded and posted after the session ends.

Day 1 – Sunday, July 19, 8PM ET: Kick-off (internal PAA session)

This session is for PAA chapter and affiliate leaders only; invitations are going out through our internal system. If you have questions about your status, or are a leader who did not receive a link for this meeting and think you should have, please contact Julie at JuleW@parentsacrossamerica.org.

Day 2 – Monday, July 20, 1:30 PM ET: Focus on Messaging (public session 1st hour) 

Join PAA and FairTest’s super media director, Bob Schaeffer, for a one-hour public webinar on ways to get our message across when “the other side” has all the money, clout and media attention.The public presentation and Q and A will be followed by a half hour internal session for PAA chapter and affiliate leaders only.

Here’s the access information for Monday:

Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/728049917

Join the conference call.
Dial-in number 641-715-3277

Participant Access Code: 325309#

Day 3 – Tuesday, July 21, 1:30 PM ET: Next steps in our race, poverty and education work (public session)

PAA members will share the disturbing and powerful information we’ve gathered about the impact of race, poverty, and cultural bias on educational opportunity.

Now that we know, where do we go from here? Strengthening PAA’s equity agenda.

Here’s the access information for Tuesday:

      Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/702194701

Join the conference call.
Dial-in number 641-715-3277
Participant Access code: 325309#

Day 4 – Wednesday, July 22, 11 AM-12:30 PM Focus on federal advocacy (public session)

PAA members will share our Capitol Hill Toolkit and our experiences talking with Congress.

Here’s the access information for Wednesday:

Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/847230637

Join the conference call:

Dial-in number 641-715-3277

Participant Access Code: 325309#

NO SESSION ON THURSDAY

Day 5 – Friday, July 24, 11 AM ET: PAA’s test stress and children’s mental health (public session)

PAA members will share our preliminary materials on the impact of testing on children’s mental health.

Here’s the access information for Friday:

Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/839924765

Join the conference call.

Dial-in number 641-715-3277

Participant Access Code: 325309#

Day 6 – Saturday, July 26, 11 AM ET: Wrap up (internal PAA session)

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/paa-week-july-19-25-final-schedule-session-links/#sthash.SRWsYko3.dpuf

Outsourcing: Privatizing the Heart of Special Education

Outsourcing: Privatizing the Heart of Special Education:

Outsourcing: Privatizing the Heart of Special Education

It is difficult to find proof that handing over the heart of special education to non-profit and for-profit companies improves services for students with special needs. It’s unclear whether it saves money either. But school privatization involving special education appears to be on the rise.

First, district administrators complain there is little district funding and they need to cut programs. The next thing you know they are “partnering” and have contracted with an outside business to provide the same services, only of questionable quality, they refused to fund originally.

In 2012, Stephanie Simon wrote a Huffington Post article entitled, “Privatizing Public Schools: Big Firms Eyeing Profits From U.S. K-12 Market.” Scroll down to the section/subheading “Special Ed as a Growth Market.”

Another niche spotlighted at the private equity conference: special education.

Mark Claypool, president of Educational Services of America, told the crowd his company has enjoyed three straight years of 15 percent to 20 percent growth as more and more school districts have hired him to run their special-needs programs.

Autism in particular, he said, is a growth market, with school districts seeking betterOutsourcing: Privatizing the Heart of Special Education:

K.J.’s email scheme - Sacramento News & Review -

Sacramento News & Review - K.J.’s email scheme - Bites - Opinions - July 16, 2015:

K.J.’s email scheme

How the mayor's ‘bulletproof' system to avoid public scrutiny might backfire

“Gmail was our bulletproof method of communication, beyond the reach of the city and the public.”

That’s how R.E. Graswich, a former senior adviser to Mayor Kevin Johnson, described the parallel email system set up inside the mayor’s office to avoid California’s public-records law. “Our private little system,” he called it. (See page 14 for Nick Miller’s story on Graswich.)

We knew Johnson’s staff routinely does city business using special “OMKJ” Gmail accounts—for “Office of Mayor Kevin Johnson”—which are issued upon hire. In fact, Graswich estimated 80 percent of the work done by the mayor and staff was done using OMKJ emails, rather than official city of Sacramento accounts.

More troubling still, Graswich said the email accounts were used for a mix of city business and noncity business, involving the mayor’s various nonprofits and outside initiatives. They were also used to do political campaign work “on city computers and in City Hall,” he said.

If you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds pretty illegal,” you may be on to something.

The mayor’s spokesperson Ben Sosenko has lied on multiple occasions, telling local media that the OMKJ emails are only “used for noncity business.”

We know that’s not true, however, because SN&R has in its possession plenty of emails from city employees doing city business with OMKJ email accounts—Sosenko in particular.

Sosenko has also said several times that all the noncity business being done on city time with city employees was “for the benefit of the city.”

Team K.J. wants it both ways: When they want the public to foot the bill for the mayor’s outside projects—including the ugly takeover of the National Conference of Black Mayors—it’s all for the benefit of the city. But when the public wants a little scrutiny of those activities, suddenly it’s all private, noncity business.

Recently on Capitol Public Radio’s program Insight, Sosenko said the public can’t see the OMKJ emails Sacramento News & Review - K.J.’s email scheme - Bites - Opinions - July 16, 2015:

Senate Votes to Require States to Set Limit on Time Spent Testing | deutsch29

Senate Votes to Require States to Set Limit on Time Spent Testing | deutsch29:

Senate Votes to Require States to Set Limit on Time Spent Testing

On July 14, 2015, the Senate passed by voice vote a bill sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) requiring states to establish a limit on the maximum total time students are to spend taking standardized tests– for ESEA or otherwise; to represent that limit as a percentage of instructional time, and to notify parents once the percentage of testing time has been used up:

SA 2210. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2089 submitted by Mr. Alexander (for himself and Mrs. Murray) to the bill S. 1177, to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 52, between lines 9 and 10, insert the following:

“(L) Limitation on assessment time.—

“(i) In general.–As a condition of receiving an allocation under this part for any fiscal year, each State shall—

“(I) set a limit on the aggregate amount of time devoted to the administration of assessments (including assessments adopted pursuant to this subsection, other assessments rquired by the State, and assessments required districtwide by the local educational agency) for each grade, expressed as a percentage of annual instructional hours; and

“(II) ensure that each local educational agency in the State will notify the 

Senate Votes to Require States to Set Limit on Time Spent Testing | deutsch29:

In Blow to Erdogan, Turkish Court Halts Closing of Schools Tied to His Rival - The New York Times

In Blow to Erdogan, Turkish Court Halts Closing of Schools Tied to His Rival - The New York Times:

In Blow to Erdogan, Turkish Court Halts Closing of Schools Tied to His Rival

ISTANBUL — In a blow to the government, Turkey’s highest court has overturned a law that would have closed thousands of preparatory schools linked to an influential Muslim cleric and rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the legislation to shut the schools, passed in 2014 while Mr. Erdogan was prime minister and his governing Justice and Development Party had a majority in Parliament, violated the freedom of education enshrined in the Turkish Constitution, according to local news reports. Although the court’s decision was handed down on Monday, it was not expected to be published until Wednesday.

The schools, attended by students seeking to pass national high school and university entrance exams, are run by Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. He presides over a network of millions of followers worldwide, some of whom hold high-ranking positions in law enforcement, the judiciary and business in Turkey.

Mr. Gulen is a former ally of Mr. Erdogan, and together they removed the military from Turkish politics in recent years. But since accomplishing that goal, they have been enmeshed in a power struggle that turned into a public feud last year when Mr. Erdogan accused the cleric of being behind acorruption investigation meant to topple his government.

Mr. Erdogan labeled the investigation a “coup attempt” orchestrated by a “parallel state” led by Mr. Gulen, and in response purged thousands of police officers and prosecutors suspected of having ties with the movement. Charges against all parties implicated in the corruption investigation were dropped this year.

The preparatory schools are a main source of income for Mr. Gulen’s movement, and their closing would have crippled the group’s financing. Mr. Erdogan said the decision to close the schools was “part of a reform of an unhealthy educational system that ranks Turkey below most other developed countries.” He said the system benefited only the children of rich families who could afford to go to the schools.

An appeal to overturn the law was sent to the Constitutional Court, in Ankara, by the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party, which In Blow to Erdogan, Turkish Court Halts Closing of Schools Tied to His Rival - The New York Times:

CURMUDGUCATION: Sad Days in PARCCland

CURMUDGUCATION: Sad Days in PARCCland:

Sad Days in PARCCland

PARCC, built on the dream of a national scale standardized testing system, has been dumped by yet another state. Governor John Kasich of Ohio two weeks ago signed a budget that severs Ohio's connection to the PARCC consortium. The dream is dying.


The PARCC had only been used in Ohio for one year-- but that year was disastrous. State Senator Peggy Lehner (who may be a saint or who may be an opportunist who saw a political opening) had set up her own committee to look into testing issues, and what she found in a survey a few months ago was that basically every sentient human in Ohiohates the PARCC test. In her survey, Lehner found exactly one superintendent who "strongly agreed" that the implementation of the tests went well.

The Ohio legislature has been after PARCC for several months, including an earlier proposal that not only cut the test but cut the education department's budget for all testing (the new bill allows for new tests, but shorter and given only once at year's end). And way back in February, 25-year veteran teacher (and BAT) Dawn Neely-Randall spoke out against the test, helping kick off an avalanche of criticism from teachers.

Governor Kasich, a Common Core True Believer who has labeled Core opposition "hysteria," has tried to defend the PARCC, but clearly has given up that fight. His Presidential aspirations may or may not be a factor, but Kasich is the only other Republican besides Jeb Bush who would conceivably not run away from Common Core. For PARCC, this is more bad news.

When the testing consortium was launched, it included twenty-three states and the District of Columbia. Ohio's defection brings the number down to ten states, plus DC. Those states areArkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi,New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island (that's according to the PARCC website, which hasn't been changed to reflect the new loss).

You'll notice two things about the list-- one is that some of those states are not necessarily solidly in the PARCC camp, and the other is that they are not among America's most populous. PARCC was CURMUDGUCATION: Sad Days in PARCCland:

Charter School Sector Out of Control | janresseger

Charter School Sector Out of Control | janresseger:

Charter School Sector Out of Control

Last week when Ohio’s progressive Senator Sherrod Brown introduced (to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization bill being considered right now by the U.S. Senate) an amendment for federal regulation of charter schools, the Plain Dealer reported that he noted the irony that the very people who complain about waste, fraud, and abuse in government are now defending unregulated charter schools.

Whether or not Brown’s “Charter School Accountability Act of 2015″ is enacted in this session of Congress, it is absolutely important that someone has finally introduced regulation of charter schools into the Congressional debate about education.  Just last month, a group of national organizations, the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, wrote to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to remind him that the Department of Education’s own Office of Inspector General had, “raised concern about transparency and competency in the administration of the federal Charter School Program,” and to demand a moratorium on new charter schools until regulation is improved.  The Office of Inspector General had reported in 2012 that neither the Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, which administers the Charter Schools Program, nor the state education agencies which disburse the majority of federal funds are equipped to keep adequate records or establish even minimal oversight of charter schools.  But according to the Alliance’s letter, nothing has been done to improve oversight.  And yet, according to Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post, “The department has given $1.7 billion in grants to charter schools since fiscal 2009.”  This blog covered the letter sent to Secretary Duncan from the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools here.

Nowhere has the experiment with charters been as extensive as New Orleans, where ten years ago after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city, laws were swiftly changed to enable the state of Louisiana to declare the majority of New Orleans’ public schools “failing” and to seize the schools into the state-run Recovery School District that turned the majority of schools into privately managed charter schools. The Recovery School District in New Orleans has been bragged about in the press and in a mass of research literature produced by proponents of its “portfolio school reform” strategy.  And Louisiana’s creation of a “recovery district” or state appointed emergency manager has been copied by, for example, Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, and very recently by Ohio for Youngstown’s schools, and Wisconsin for Milwaukee’s schools.

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) is an organization at the University of Colorado Charter School Sector Out of Control | janresseger:

Backdrop slap on Common Core’s test of ‘feelings’ :: SI&A Cabinet Report

Backdrop slap on Common Core’s test of ‘feelings’ :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Backdrop slap on Common Core’s test of ‘feelings’

(La.) In another move to limit the federal government’s reach into its classrooms, lawmakers have approved legislation that prohibits education officials from adopting any academic content standards or tests that assess a child’s non-cognitive skills.

HB 245, signed into law by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal earlier this month,  directs the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt only content standards and assessments that apply to “subject matter proficiency” of students, and that do not include items intended to measure a pupil’s “non-cognitive, emotional, physical, or psychological characteristics, attributes, or skills.”

“This bill came out of some questions that were asked on some PARCC tests in some other states,” the bill’s author, Rep. Cameron Henry, told members of the Education Committee in May, referring to student testing being developed for several states – including Louisiana – by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career.

“I wanted to make sure we only ask questions of students that they know the answer to based on what they’ve been taught in school,” Henry said. “We don’t want to ask them what they believe in; what they feel like.”

Louisiana’s new law comes amid a growing national movement to equip schools to teach not only basic core subjects but to address a child’s social, emotional and physical needs as well.

It appears also to be a veiled attempt at keeping new national English language arts and math standards known as Common Core out of Louisiana’s classrooms. The state initially adopted the standards but opposition, which Jindal eventually joined, stalled their implementation and led instead to the launch of an exhaustive review process designed to create new state-specific goals by next spring.

Researchers, educators and others believe that non-cognitive skills play a major role in determining a student’s academic and long-term achievement, and many state and federal programs are geared toward supporting non-academic needs, such as training teachers to assess mental health issues or providing drug and alcohol support services.

But there is also a widespread belief among opponents of the Common Core that the standards are the federal government’s tool for nationalizing education and indoctrinating the attitudes, beliefs and mindset of students.

Standardized test questions asking students to discuss their personal feelings about a topic, or write Backdrop slap on Common Core’s test of ‘feelings’ :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Black Children in U.S. Are Much More Likely to Live in Poverty, Study Finds - The New York Times

Black Children in U.S. Are Much More Likely to Live in Poverty, Study Finds - The New York Times:

Black Children in U.S. Are Much More Likely to Live in Poverty, Study Finds

WASHINGTON — Black children were almost four times as likely as white children to be living in poverty in 2013, a new report has found, the latest evidence that the economic recovery is leaving behind some of the United States’ most vulnerable citizens.

The share of American children living in poverty fell to about 20 percent in 2013 from 22 percent in 2010, according to the report by the Pew Research Center, which analyzed data from the United States Census Bureau.

But the poverty rate remained stable for black children, while it fell for Hispanic, white and Asian children, a sign of just how pervasive and stubborn poverty has been for African-Americans, according to the report. About 38.3 percent of black children lived in poverty in 2013, nearly four times the rate for white children, at 10.7 percent. About 30.4 percent of Hispanic children and 10.1 percent of Asian children live in poverty.

For the first time since the federal government started collecting the data, the number of black children in poverty appears to have overtaken the number of poor white children, even though white children far outnumber black children in the American population, the report said. About 4.2 million black children were living in poverty in 2013, compared with 4.1 million white children, though researchers said the difference was not statistically significant.

A household in poverty in 2013 was defined as a family of four, two of whose members were children, living on an annual income of less than $23,624.

In actual numbers, there were still more Hispanic children in poverty, 5.4 million, than any other group, researchers said, a ranking the group has held since at least 2008. The Hispanic population is larger and younger than any other racial or ethnic group, and the child poverty rate is relatively high.

Eileen Patten, a research analyst who tracks social trends at the Pew Research Center, said she and a colleague had discovered the pattern while updating a routine graphic, and decided to bring it to light.

“The fact that the trajectory has been different for blacks than for these other groups, that caught our attention,” she said. “We were surprised the story had not been told like this since this data had been around for a while.”

The census data was released in the fall.

Researchers did not investigate the reasons black children were lagging. One possible driver was the unemployment rate, which has been consistently higher for African-Americans than for most other racial and ethnic groups, and which took longer to fall after the recession, Ms. Patten said.

The child poverty rate is closely related to the unemployment rate, as children are more likely to be poor if their parents are unemployed.Black Children in U.S. Are Much More Likely to Live in Poverty, Study Finds - The New York Times: