Starblk’s Vision
A world where all Black people in Indianapolis have strong reading and analytical skills and understand the benefits of careers in STEM.
Starblk’s Mission
Our mission is to improve the speech, academic reading levels, science, and mathematic comprehension of Black Americans in Indianapolis to aid in an overall growth in STEM employment in the following ways:
- Improving Black Standardized Scoring
- Improving Black Reading Levels
- Improve Black Grades
- Promoting Public Speaking for Black People
- Improving Black Childrens Confidence in Learning
- Provide Mentorship to the Black Community
Starblk’s Purpose
To improve academic reading levels, public speaking, science, and mathematics comprehension to aid in an overall growth in STEM employment of low-income and/or low standardized scoring Black Americans in Indianapolis.
Market Analysis and Key Indicators
Starblk’s mission is centered around Marion County, the city where the founder, VP and the board grew up and became successful. Marion County is working city where about 67% of the people who live here work compared to 61% of the state. About 47% of those employees in Marion County work in a STEM type of position and these positions are expected to grow in the upcoming years with changes in technology and engineering across the world.
When it comes to education the children of Marion County are falling behind significantly. Around 68% of black kids pass IREAD, a reading assessment for kids through grade 3, compared to 88% of white kids. Free and reduced meal recipients passed at 76% compared to kids with paid meals passing at 88%. When examining these numbers in Indianapolis Public Schools which are 80% nonwhite only about 55% passed IREAD. Which shows an extreme need for assistance with the black population in Marion County, these numbers are consistent across the school corporations in the inner city with black kids.
More concerning is the ILEARN numbers. Taken from the Indiana Gov website, ILEARN is defined as Indiana’s Learning Evaluation and Assessment Readiness Network. It is the summative accountability assessment for Indiana students in grades three through eight and high school biology. ILEARN measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana Academic Standards for English/Language Arts for grades three through eight, Mathematics for grades three through eight, Science for grades four and six, and Social Studies for grade five. At Starblk we understand that the foundation of Math and English are crucial to the foundations of a successful and productive STEM employee. Looking at the statistics only 20% of black kids are proficient in ELA, 17% in Math and 12% in both ELA and Math. In IPS the numbers are 11%, 9% and 5%. This is unacceptable to us as an organization and our vision is to have this number at 100.
The SAT which is the standardized college entrance exam in the US that aims to measure a student’s knowledge of math, reading, writing and college readiness. Black students are testing low on this test, and it is preventing them from getting access to 4-year institutions which is where most STEM employees will thrive. Only 6.9% of black children met the benchmark standards for Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW). The benchmark is what tell colleges who are thriving and who will face challenges, who needs support, and who may need curriculum enhancements to succeed. In some cases, this is a determining factor in whether a child can attend a university. Although there are other indications that a child is ready for college, the SAT for 100 years have been accurate in telling an admissions board whether someone is ready to go to college. Our goal is to strengthen this number for black students in Marion County so that they will be productive members of the community.
Marion county has a culture rich in family and community. With most households being married or having children. In the black community only about 30% of those families stay together as a married unit and we believe with proper education and resources that number will rise. The numbers show that kids in Marion County who have a married family, with 2 incomes, that are highly educated will produce higher test scores. We can see that when we compare the low testing numbers of IPS to the high numbers Hamilton County where majority of families fit those criteria.Family matters to the citizens of Marion County and with that base our kids thrive.
Starblk’s team and board of directors are a direct reflection of what can happen when black kids in the Marion County have the support they need despite their backgrounds and academics. We have pride in Marion County being the place that we came from and the values it instilled in us growing up in this environment. We understand that there is going to have to be work put in to fulfill our mission, but we are determined to do our part with improving the numbers. We know that our mission will empower the community, promote growth and further the goals of Marion County as a whole.