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Free and reduced-price meal eligibility does not measure student poverty: Evidence and policy significance

Ishtiaque Fazlul,
Cory Koedel,
Eric Parsons

Free and reduced-price meal (FRM) enrollment is commonly used in education research and policy applications as an indicator of student poverty. However, using multiple data sources external to the school system, we show that FRM status is a poor proxy for poverty, with enrollment rates far exceeding what would be expected based on stated income thresholds for program participation. This is true even without accounting for community eligibility for free meals, although community eligibility has exacerbated the problem in recent years. Over the course of showing the limitations of using FRM data to measure poverty, we also provide early evidence on the potential value of two alterative measures of school poverty.

Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Families and Communities
Tags
Poverty,
Equity
Download 05/2021
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/ytaf-nc39
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Fazlul, Ishtiaque, Cory Koedel, and Eric Parsons. (). Free and reduced-price meal eligibility does not measure student poverty: Evidence and policy significance. (EdWorkingPaper: -415). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/ytaf-nc39

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