The 2026 Kids Count Data Book showed 67% of fourth graders in Kentucky are not proficient in reading, while three of four eighth graders are not proficient in math. Many students are still missing weeks of school and advocates said too many children are not getting the early education they need.
Shannon Moody, chief policy and strategy officer for Kentucky Youth Advocates, said the effects of the pandemic are still being felt.
“We still, I don't think, have a good understanding of how non-traditional instruction and being removed from in-person instruction has impacted our kids,” Moody observed.
Moody stressed it is important to consider the effects of screens and cellphones in classrooms on children’s learning.
The report, based on data trends from 2019 to 2024, showed more high school students are graduating on time. It also found drops in teen births and in the number of children who are overweight or obese.
Advocates for families said it is difficult for children to learn in school if they are hungry or living in unstable housing. While data show fewer Kentucky children are living in high-poverty areas, today’s affordability crisis is straining family budgets.
Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said children do well when states invest in them. She added programs such as SNAP, universal school meals and child tax credits help support families.
“There are policies that the data and evidence show us work, that they support families in times like now when costs are rising,” Boissiere explained. “Housing policies, housing subsidies — critically important to families.”
In 2021, when Congress passed the expanded child tax credit, child poverty fell to a nationwide historic low of 5%. After Congress allowed the tax credit to expire, it rose to 13%.
Boissiere hopes lawmakers in all states will use the data on children to invest in proven policies and ensure families’ most basic needs are met so all children can thrive.
