Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education released the latest scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card.” Indiana’s scores are disappointing and mirror the state’s recently released ILEARN results. In 2019, only 37 percent of Indiana 8th graders demonstrated proficiency in reading and math on NAEP. In 4th grade, 37 percent of students achieved proficiency in reading, while 47 percent were proficient in math. Average scores in reading declined and average scores in math held relatively steady since the test was last administered in 2017. While average scores in […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic was recently declared a national public health emergency – and for good reason.  In Indiana, an adult is now more likely to die from a drug overdose than a motor vehicle accident. But opioids aren’t the only substances fueling our addiction crisis. For example, 151,000 Hoosier children who are now under the age of 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. And alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine use are of continued concern. Substance use often begins in middle school and worsens through high school. Nationwide, 18 percent of students report having used a prescription drug […]