Education and Youth

One of the most important assets within a community is the neighborhood school. This was most evident when schools closed in March 2020 to comply the stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of immediate concern was ensuring that children had access to food. For some children in Baltimore, schools provide 1 to 3 meals a day during the week. After an initial four weeks of closure, Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) launched virtual learning for students. This new learning environment requires internet connectivity in the home, as well as devices, such as laptops and tablets to enable instruction and learning activities. ^[1]  

In response to uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic, BCPS released its reopening plan for the 2020-2021 school year, titled “Closing the Distance". ^[2]  During the summer of 2020, BCPS held in-person learning opportunities for students that struggled earlier in the spring with the switch to virtual learning. This program was the first attempt to offer in-person programming since March 2020. Despite this in-person offering, students largely remained learning in virtual and hybrid environments until January 3, 2022 when schools reopened to all students following the winter holiday break. ^[3]  

The Vital Signs report provides more detailed and localized ways to examine the relationship between racial and spatial disparities across neighborhoods in Baltimore City. Since the 2009-2010 school year, Vital Signs has reported a 16.3% decline in students grades 1-12. These declines are particularly acute within some neighborhoods experiencing the devastating impact of school closures. In January 2021, three schools were recommended for closure, and students were absorbed into neighboring schools or schools with excess capacity, bringing the total number of closures since the 2016-2017 school year to seventeen. ^[4]  While school-closures due to low-enrollment and/or low-performance are based on fiscal and educational requirements, communities and students endure the consequences of their changing landscapes.

The Vital Signs indicators on educational outcomes provide aggregated student information based on where the students live so that residents understand the school-based context for the children in their neighborhood and serve as a complement to data reported by the school. ^[5]  Vital Signs 21 includes indicators for all Community Statistical Areas (CSAs) designed to track the educational outcomes for public school children and youth. These indicators are grouped into the following categories: student enrollment, demographics, attendance, dropout and completion, and youth engagement. 

Data for Vital Signs 21 educational indicators are provided by the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPS) as well as the 2017-2021 American Community Survey (ACS). The data provided by the BCPS include student address so that aggregated data on educational performance are presented by the neighborhood in which the student lives, not by the school attended.

To ensure consistent communication of these data to communities, analysis of education-related indicators has been more closely coordinated with BCPS. However, each one of the Education and Youth indicators may not be directly comparable to data provided by BCPS due to methodological adjustments needed to create community-based indicators. For example, students who cannot be matched between data files provided by BCPSS and/or students whose home address cannot be geocoded were excluded from the analysis. Therefore, direct comparisons to data and results available through the Baltimore City Public Schools and the Maryland Report Card cannot be made. ^[6] 

Indicators are created by normalizing data by the number of children that ever attended a Baltimore City public school during the school year in a given area to allow for comparisons across neighborhoods and over time. ^[7] 

The school system measures enrollment as a census of students that are registered for school as of September 30 every school year. This official enrollment serves as the basis for many school-based resources including per pupil funding for each school.

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of elementary school students enrolled in public school increased from 27,343 to 29,008. In the 2020-2021 school year, the largest number of elementary students enrolled in public school lived in Cedonia/Frankford (1,309), Greater Rosemont (1,069), Brooklyn/Curtis Bay/Hawkins Point (1,048), and Belair-Edison (1,001) and the lowest number of students lived in Downtown/Seton Hill (99), Canton (126), Mount Washington/Coldspring (168), and Cross-Country/Cheswolde (175).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of middle school students enrolled in public school increased from 16,011 to 17,421. In the 2020-2021 school year, the largest number of middle school students enrolled in public school lived in Cedonia/Frankford (764), Belair-Edison (671), Greater Rosemont (636), and Brooklyn/Curtis Bay/Hawkins Point (606) and the lowest number of students lived in Canton (45), Downtown/Seton Hill (63), and South Baltimore (86).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of high school students enrolled in public school increased from 19,180 to 21,179. In the 2020-2021 school year, the largest number of high school students enrolled in public school lived in Cedonia/Frankford (968), Greater Rosemont (853), and Belair-Edison (832) and the lowest number of students lived in Canton (24), South Baltimore (46), and Downtown/Seton Hill (75).

Vital Signs 21 also reports students who ever attended the school system at any point in the school year, which is a larger figure than the students who were officially enrolled on September 30. ^[8]  Education indicators throughout this section of the report are normalized using the number of students ever attended. Students who have ever attended represent all the children within the neighborhood who are engaged with the school system and better reflects the level of access to the school system overall.

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of students who ever attended in 1st - 5th grade remained steady, from 28,292 to 28,925. Over the past two school years, the CSAs that experienced the greatest percentage increase in total number of elementary students ever attended in a public school were Patterson Park North & East (+268 students), Southwest Baltimore (+254 students), and Madison/East End (+248 students). The CSA with the greatest percentage decrease in total number of students ever attended were Cedonia/Frankford (-87 students), Loch Raven (-71 students), and Hamilton Hills (-58 students).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of students that ever attended in 6th-8th grade increased from 16,462 to 17,376. Over the past two school years, the CSAs that experienced the greatest percentage increase in total number of middle school students ever attended in a public school were Patterson Park North & East (+153 students) and Southwest Baltimore (+125 students). The CSA with the greatest decreases in total number of students attending were Cedonia/Frankford (-26 students) and Forest Park/Walbrook (-24 students).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the total number of students ever attended in 9th-12th grade increased from 19,461 to 20,806. Over the past two school years, the CSAs that experienced the greatest percentage increase in total number of high school students ever attended in a public school were Patterson Park North & East (+158 students) and Madison/East End (+121 students). The CSAs with the greatest decrease in total number of students ever attended in high school were Cedonia/Frankford (-57 students) and Greater Mondawmin (-21 students).

The demographic makeup of the public school system in Baltimore is disproportionately Black/African-American. The city as a whole is 61.8% Black/African-American (see Vital Signs 21 Census Demographics), yet during the 2020-2021 school year, 72.5% of the students ever attended in a Baltimore City public school were Black/African-American.

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the percent of Black/African-American students that attended Baltimore City Public Schools decreased from 77.8% to 72.5%. During the 2020-2021 school year, the CSAs with the highest percent of Black/African-American students were Greater Rosemont (93.7%) and Greater Mondawmin (93.3%). The CSAs with the lowest percent of Black/African-American students were Greektown/Bayview (10.0%) and Canton (10.7%).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the percent of white non-Hispanic students ever attended increased BCPSS slightly from 8.4% to 8.7%. During the 2020-2021 school year, the CSAs with the highest percent of white students were South Baltimore (80.5%), Canton (67.9%), and Greater Roland Park/Poplar Hill (63.8%). The CSAs with the lowest percent of white students were Edmondson Village (0.6%), Greater Rosemont (0.8%), and Oliver/Johnson Square (1.1%).

From 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, the percent of Hispanic students ever attended increased from 13.2% to 14.2%. During the 2020-2021 school year, the CSAs with the highest percent of Hispanic students were Greektown/Bayview (81.6%) and Highlandtown (73.5%). The CSAs with the lowest percent of Hispanic students were Greater Mondawmin (1.2%), Greater Rosemont (1.3%), Edmondson Village (1.7%), and Northwood (1.7%).

One of the most important factors for ensuring student success is having consistent and routine attendance. Ensuring students arrive to school on time, everyday has become a major focus for Baltimore City agencies, school system, and other multi-sector stakeholders. In general, over the past several years, elementary and middle school chronic absenteeism (missing at least 20 days) has been much lower than high school chronic absenteeism.

During the 2020-2021 school year, the percentage of elementary school students in 1st through 5th grades that were chronically absent was 37.1%, and increase from 23.9% before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018-2019. Cherry Hill (59.1%), Upton/Druid Heights (55.0%), and Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park (53.8%) had the highest percentages of chronically absent elementary school students. Since the 2018-2019 school year, several CSAs experienced dramatic, twenty-point increases in elementary school absenteeism, including Edmondson Village (+22.5 percentage points), Cherry Hill (+22.5 percentage points), Clifton-Berea (+21.1 percentage points), Greater Charles Village/Barclay (+21.0 percentage points), and Upton/Druid Heights (+20.2 percentage points).

During the 2020-2021 school year, the percentage of middle school students that were chronically absent was 42.3%, nearly double the rate during the 2018-2019 school year (24.3%). The CSAs with the highest percentage of chronically absent middle school students were Cherry Hill (71.3%), Upton/Druid Heights (65.1%), and Southwest Baltimore (60.0%). Since the 2018-2019 school year, the greatest increases in middle school absenteeism have been in Midway/Coldstream (+32.9 percentage points), Cherry Hill (+30.1 percentage points), and Highlandtown (+30.4 percentage points).

During the 2020-2021 school year, the percentage of high school students that were chronically absent was 56.2%. Southwest Baltimore (70.6%), Brooklyn/Curtis Bay/Hawkins Point (69.3%), Upton/Druid Heights (69.1%), and Poppleton/The Terraces/Hollins Market (68.2%) had the highest rates of chronically absent high school students. Since before the pandemic, high school absenteeism has increased in Baltimore City, with particularly notable increases since the 2018-2019 school year in Canton (+12.9 percentage points), Cross-Country/Cheswolde (+12.4 percentage points), and Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park (+11.4 percentage points).

The Baltimore City School System and numerous other partners, including city government, foundations, and nonprofits continue to focus their efforts on reducing school withdrawals and increasing high school completion. Vital Signs 21 tracks the withdrawal rate of students (9th through 12th grade) and the high school completion rate (for 12th graders only). ^[9] 

Between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the percentage of students that withdrew from Baltimore City public schools increased from 2.1% to 3.0%. Despite this increase, the overall dropout/withdrawal rate has decreased from a recent high of 4.2% during the 2010-2011 school year. In 2020-2021, the CSAs with the highest percentage of students that withdrew before completion were Cherry Hill (5.7%), Madison/East End (5.8%).

Between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, Baltimore City’s high school completion rate for 12th graders decreased from 78.1% to 70.4%. The CSA with the highest overall completion rates in 2020-2021 were Downtown/Seton Hill (100.0%), South Baltimore (100.0%), and Greater Roland Park/Poplar Hill (94.7%). Since the 2009-2010 school year, the high school completion rate has decreased by -10.1%.

Vital Signs 21 measures youth engagement by measuring the percent of 16-19 year-olds who are in school and/or working using the American Community Survey.

From 2006-2010 to 2017-2021, the persons aged 16-19 were either in school and/or employed increased from 86.0% to 89.9%. During 2017-2021, nine CSAs had 100% of persons aged 16-19 either in school and/or employed: Canton, Downtown/Seton Hill, Fells Point, Greater Roland Park/Poplar Hill, Highlandtown, Inner Harbor/Federal Hill, Mount Washington/Coldspring, South Baltimore, and Southeastern. The CSAs with the fewest persons aged 16-19 either in school and/or employed were Forest Park/Walbrook (47.4%), Brooklyn/Curtis Bay/Hawkins Point (57.6%), and Morrell Park/Violetville (67.2%). No data was reported for Dickeyville/Franklintown due to the small sample size of the CSA.