The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2019 KIDS COUNT Data Book ranks Alabama 44th in overall child well-being as compared with other states across the nation. The Data Book uses 16 indicators from 2017 to rank each state across four domains: health, education, economic well-being and family and community.
Alabama saw improvements in 7 of the 16 indicators and remained the same in 9. New Hampshire and Massachusetts received this year’s top rankings, while Louisiana and New Mexico are the lowest-ranked states.
Alabama showed the most progress in the education domain, making small improvements since last year’s report in three of the four indicators the Data Book tracks: the percentage of fourth grade students who scored below proficient in reading (from 71 percent to 69 percent), the percentage of eighth grade students who scored below proficient in math (from 83 percent to 79 percent) and the percentage of high school students not graduating on time (from 13 percent to 11 percent.)