Measures of Economic Disadvantage Explain Outcomes Differently Across Geographies

Alternative poverty measures have been proposed in response to the emerging insufficiencies of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data. The analysis presented here involves seven poverty measures. Using outcome measures as a yardstick, we can assess how poverty measures explain these outcomes and note variations between geographical locales (assessing predictive validity). An analysis of 2019 data from Montana revealed that no poverty measure emerges as consistently meeting or exceeding the results found with the NSLP on the state level. Results are mixed based on locale (size) and distance from an urban centre, and within school communities.