Education

How does education affect health?

An individual's educational level is associated with health outcomes such as infant mortality, life expectancy, and other outcomes. It also affects economic stability as populations who lack a high school diploma tend to earn less than those that do.

Diminished earning potential can negatively affect an individual's ability to access healthy food, live in safer communities, and take advantage of social and economic opportunities to improve health.

High school graduation rates, therefore, are a proxy for health.

Level of Education

91%

High School Graduation Rate In Winnebago County


(2016-2017 CHR/EDFacts)

High School Dropout Rates

What is a dropout rate?

The "dropout rate" is the number of students who "dropped out" during the school term divided by the total number of students expected to complete that school term for that school or district (total number expected to completed school is the total number of students who completed and dropped out of school). The rates are reported as annual event for grades 7 through 12.

Although exceptions apply, the Department of Public Instructions defines drop out as:

  1. A student who exited school during the school term or exited prior to start of that school term but completed the previous school term and
  2. A student who did not re-enroll by the 3rdFriday of September of the following school term

What do dropout rates indicate?

Dropout rates can be an important indicator of student engagement and are closely linked to health outcomes.

Learn More

Please visit About the Data - Dropouts

Drop out rates in Winnebago County broken down by background, gender & race/ethnicity (2017-2018)

Source: DPIData partially redacted for dropout rate by race/ethnicity *** indicates no percent was listed

What affects high school graduation rates?

      • 3rd grade reading level
      • Living in poverty
      • Disability
      • Teen pregnancy/teen parenthood
      • Parental involvement
      • Educational level of parents
      • Safe schools (safe environment for all populations)
      • Teacher commitment

Investing in education early on has a significant impact on a person's health and economic opportunities.

Why is 3rd grade reading proficiency important?

Reading level at third grade is predictive of how likely a child is to graduate from high school. If a child is unable to read at the standard level by third grade, they are four times more likely to not graduate from high school compared to a child who reads proficiently at that time (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2013).




Winnebago County

The graph to the left shows that among local school districts more children who are not economically disadvantaged are meeting proficiency benchmarks.