A national report on child well-being was a mixed bag for Idaho.

Overall, Idaho ranked No. 15 in the nation in the KIDS COUNT Data Book, produced annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

But that’s an aggregate score, based on 16 child welfare metrics. Digging deeper, Idaho’s scores landed all over the map:

On a category labeled “Family and Community,” Idaho came in No. 5 nationally. Idaho fared better than the national average on four measures: children living in poverty, children living in single-parent households, children in families where the head of the household lacks a high school diploma, and teen birth rates.

But Idaho ranked No. 40 in the nation on education. Here’s the breakdown on the four education metrics the foundation used:

• Pre-K: 64% of Idaho’s 3- and 4-year-olds are not in school. (The national average is 54%). The foundation report describes pre-K as a building block. “Early childhood education also is linked to later academic success and positive health outcomes, but preschool attendance remains a challenge for the country.”
• Graduation: 20% of Idaho high school students do not graduate on time. (The national average is 13%). The report notes that the national graduation rate has improved by one percentage point since 2018-19: “Considering the significant pandemic disruptions in education, this is a noteworthy achievement.” But Idaho failed to keep pace, as its graduation rate declined by a percentage point during this period.
• Reading: 68% of Idaho fourth-graders are not proficient in reading. (The national average is 70%).
• Math: 69% of Idaho eighth-graders are not proficient in reading. (The national average is 73%).

The report notes that national math and reading scores both have declined since the pandemic.

“This is even more troubling when we consider that these indicators are strongly tied to future academic achievement, workforce readiness and economic success.”

The Annie E. Casey is a Baltimore-based nonprofit, “devoted to developing a brighter future for millions of children and young people with respect to their educational, economic, social and health outcomes.” The foundation released its 36^th annual data book Monday.