Indiana school board elections, 2016
← 2015 |
2017 →
|
Elections
General elections for Indiana school boards were held on November 8, 2016. Special elections were held in conjunction with some general elections to fill vacancies.
The 24 Indiana school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held school board elections for 82 seats in 2016. Here are several quick facts about those school board elections:
- The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2016 was Indianapolis Public Schools with 30,813 K-12 students.
- The smallest Indiana school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2016 was Lake Central School Corporation with 9,747 K-12 students.
- Nine of Indiana's largest districts tied for the most seats up for election in 2016 with four seats on the ballot each.
- Two of the districts tied for the fewest seats up for election in 2016 with two seats on the ballot each.
The districts listed below served 358,792 K-12 students during the 2013-2014 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Click on the district names for more information on each and its school board elections.
Election trends
Trends in Indiana school board elections
The following sections analyze competitiveness and incumbency advantage in school board elections held in Indiana's largest school districts by student enrollment. Details of the data discussed here can be found in the table below.
Competitiveness
A total of 79 school board seats in Indiana's largest school districts by enrollment were up for election in 2016. In 2014, 83 seats were on the ballot, and 142 candidates ran in the elections. That created an average of 1.71 candidates per seat, which was lower than the 2014 national average of 1.89 candidates per seat. A total of 40.96 percent of school board seats up for election in Indiana were unopposed in 2014. Nationwide that year, 32.57 percent of school board seats were unopposed.
Incumbency advantage
A total of 85.54 percent of the school board incumbents whose terms were on the ballot in Indiana in 2014 ran to retain their seats, and 78.87 percent of them won. Nationally, 81.37 percent of incumbents won re-election in 2014.
Twenty-six newcomers were elected to school boards in the state in 2014. They took 31.33 percent of the seats on the ballot, which was lower than the 38.19 percent of school board seats that went to newcomers nationally in 2014.
The map below details the success rates for incumbents who ran in the 2014 school board elections that were held in the largest school districts by enrollment in the U.S.
Data table
| Indiana school board elections, 2014 - 2016 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2016 | |||||||||
| All candidates | ||||||||||
| Seats up | 83 | 79 | ||||||||
| Candidates | 142 | TBD | ||||||||
| Candidates/seat | 1.71 | TBD | ||||||||
| Unopposed seats | 34 | TBD | ||||||||
| % unopposed | 40.96% | TBD | ||||||||
| % seats won by newcomers | 31.33% | TBD | ||||||||
| Incumbents | ||||||||||
| Sought re-election | 71 | TBD | ||||||||
| Unopposed | 29 | TBD | ||||||||
| Retained | 56 | TBD | ||||||||
| % retained | 78.87% | TBD | ||||||||
Academic performance
- See also: Public education in Indiana
| Education terms |
|---|
 |
| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
|
NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013.[1]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| Indiana | 52% | 38% | 38% | 35% |
| Illinois | 39% | 36% | 34% | 36% |
| Michigan | 37% | 30% | 31% | 33% |
| Ohio | 48% | 40% | 37% | 39% |
| U.S. averages | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Indiana and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[1][2][3]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[4]
Indiana schools reported a graduation rate of 87 percent during the 2012-2013 school year. In Indiana, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning an average SAT score of 1470.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| Indiana | 87% | First | 21.7 | 38% | 1470 | 70% | |
| Illinois | 83.2% | Third | 20.6 | 100% | 1807 | 5% | |
| Michigan | 77% | Fourth | 19.9 | 100% | 1782 | 4% | |
| Ohio | 82.2% | Third | 21.8 | 72% | 1635 | 17% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Indiana was lower than the national average at 1.8 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.1 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[5]
State profile
State profile
| Demographic data for Indiana | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indiana | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 6,612,768 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 35,826 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 84.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 9.2% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.9% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 6.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 87.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 24.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,255 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 18.4% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Indiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Indiana
Indiana voted Republican in five out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Indiana, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[6]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Indiana had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Indiana coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Indiana
- United States congressional delegations from Indiana
- Public policy in Indiana
- Endorsers in Indiana
- Indiana fact checks
- More...
See also
| Indiana | School Boards | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
| |||||