The Education Needs Index has been published by The Education Needs Index Project.
This website provides an Education Needs Index (ENI) for all 3,140 counties in the United States.
The index is a measurement of current socio-economic forces that influence education conditions for each county. Indicators that make up the index are based on the following categories: education (such as percent of residents with a high school degree, college degree), economics (such as unemployment rate, per capita income), market factors (such as projected population growth), and population factors (such as percent of population over 44).
In addition, the site also allows for comparisons across states regarding poverty, college attainment, the unemployment rate and more.
Selected Findings:
- Los Angeles County is considered to be in the category of "most critical" in terms of educational needs, with an overall ENI score of .917
- About half of California counties (47 percent) are considered to have "most critical" or "critical" educational needs
- Los Angeles County ranks at the bottom 67 of 3,140 counties in the US in terms of the overall ENI scores on educational needs
- The two California counties with the most critical education needs (as measured by the ENI score) are Imperial and Madera Counties
- San Francisco and Marin Counties have the least critical education needs in California.
- Los Angeles County ranks near the middle (out of all US counties) in terms of economic indicators influencing educational needs.