For decades, education leaders and policymakers have used the number of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch (FRL) to make decisions about accountability and school funding.
But this measure is insufficient. FRL provides decisionmakers with little nuance about students’ experiences and has become increasingly inaccurate as a proxy for poverty.
In order to better support all students, policymakers must think holistically about measuring student need and adopt new approaches that capture obstacles to student learning.
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