Educational Attainment in Appalachia

Candice ClarkCI 704

Definition of Appalachia

• Geographic area in Eastern United States stretching 2000 miles

• Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountains in North America

• World’s largest broad-leafed deciduous forest• Appalachians have the world’s largest deposits

of asbestos, anthracite, and bituminous coal• All of WV is within Appalachia

Definition of Educational Attainment

• Educational attainment – completion of a high school degree or better and or completion of a college degree or better

ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission)• Originated by Johnson administration in 1965• ARC focuses on the poorest of counties around the

Appalachian Mountains• Johnson had declared a War on Poverty from a

porch in Inez, KY; in 1965 1 in 3 Appalachians lived in poverty

• 2008 John McCain returned to the house LBJ declared the War on Poverty from; it is padlocked with a no trespassing sign, broken down car in driveway; Martin Co. KY still has the same poverty rate

Pertinent Statistics: Educational Attainment in the US vs. Appalachia

1980 1990 2000

U.S. Appalachia U.S. Appalachia U.S. Appalachia

H.S. Diploma 66.5 57.3 75.2 68.3 80.4 76.8

College Degree 16.2 11.2 20.3 14.3 24.4 17.7

Educational Attainment by Appalachian Subregion 1990 2000

1990 2000

Northern Central Southern Northern Central Southern

HS Diploma 73.3 53.2 66 81.2 64.1 75.2

College 14.4 8.8 15.4 17.7 10.7 19.2

Cultural Identity

• Appalachians have a strong sense of localism (sense of attachment to the place an individual was born and grew up), historicism (assigning a central significance to a specific context, such as historical period, geographical place, and local culture), familism (social structure in which the needs of the family as a group are more important than the needs of any one individual).

Barriers to Educational Attainment

• Strong sense of family and community prevents Appalachians from leaving home to seek higher education

• Sense of guilt or a disconnect with self-image if they expand beyond the educational level of their parents and family

• Difficulty reaching colleges/universities; transportation, geography, distance

• Lack of information about higher education possibilities and procedures

• Rural schools may lack resources to adequately prepare students for college

• Poverty and financial difficulties

Personal Opinion

• Statistics are alarming but not surprising• Potential for improvement if research results

are heeded• Some Appalachian studies are uncomfortable

for me• Sense of pride from reading some of the

research• West Virginianess