Impact of Education Funding on Student Achievement

1. Chapter 12 Spending & Student Achievement

2. Questions about financial resources’ impact on education lie at the heart of national education reform • A Nation at Risk’s publication prompted some to seriously question public schools’ value if teaching interventions could not overcome the destiny of children’s backgrounds

3. Does public education make a difference in student achievement apart from family influences?

4. Educational leaders need to know where they can get the “biggest bang for the instructional buck” in advancing student achievement

5. The 3rd ISLLC Standard states: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, & resources for a safe, efficient, & effective learning environment.

6. The Coleman Report,1966 • The Coleman Report changed the country’s attitude about public education • This study focused on questions of racial segregation and educational inequality by examining: • Physical facilities, curriculum, teacher characteristics, and student achievement as measured by standardized test scores • Student self-attitudes and academic goals, socio-economic status, and parent education levels

7. The Coleman study findings were interpreted to say that schools had little impact on studentachievementoutside of the family background Educational inputs (such as, student-teacher ratio, funding resources, teaching practices, quality of school facilities) did not appear to contribute much to student achievement Coleman Study Findings

8. This study’s results led to current thinking that spending levels on education do not have a significant impact student achievement Coleman Study Findings, cont.

9. This finding made the report particularly influential in some educational and political circles Coleman Study Findings, cont.

10. Coleman Study & Educational Spending • The Coleman study’s results led to some current thinking that educationspending levels do not have a significant impact student achievement • To some politicians and policy makers, this study justified reducing taxes

11. Other Studies Indicated Positive Spending Outcomes • Studies concurrent with Coleman indicated positive outcomes with school spending and student outcomes • These studies examined later earnings of individuals in the labor force and found a significant association between adult earnings and school spending • Verstegan states that these findings have been strong and consistent over time

12. Coleman Study Had Political Impact & Momentum • Unfortunately, Coleman’s study overshadowed the others relegating them rather obscurity

13. The findings made conservative politicians seriously question public schools’ value if educational interventions could not overcome the destiny of children’s backgrounds Many public school educators & most college and university professors, on the other hand, remained relatively quiet, waiting for further research findings, believing that classroom interventions made a significant impact Coleman Report Fallout

14. Eric Hanushek Studies Confirm Coleman • Continued the education production function studies • Published meta analyses of existing studies and found that the relationship between spending and student achievement is not strong or consistent given the way we fund current education practices

15. William Bennett, Secretary of Education, cited his own 1993 study of per pupil spending and SAT scores*: States with the highest SAT scores, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Utah, and Minnesota, spend low amounts on a per pupil basis Faulty Research to Support Reduced Education Funding

16. Students could show high academic achievement, Bennett argued persuasively, without influx of high levels of school funding Public education did not need more money, he logically avowed, in order to assure students’ learning gains Faulty Research to Support Reduced Education Funding, cont.

17. What was wrong with Bennett’s study was that these five states have a very low percentage of students taking the SAT Most students in these states take the ACT Only those few students interested in attending prestigious Ivy League schools take the SAT Faulty Research to Support Reduced Education Funding

18. Educators envision what additional funds could do for student achievement – especially in times of high-stakes testing Politicians increasingly seek re-election on platforms of tax reduction, citing limited public resources and a lack of research to indicate increased funding produces higher student achievement Debate Continues AboutMoney & Student Achievement

19. Input-output study Attempt to show the maximum output that can be expected from a combination of inputs In other words, how much education can be had for a given number of inputs? Coleman Study Methods:Production Function Study

20. Problems With Production Function Studies in Education • Production function studies are inappropriate models for education • For instance, given a productivity rate per line worker of 15 widgets per hour (where P is the productivity rate), what would happen to daily output (where O is the daily output) if working conditions changed by lowering summer air conditioning temperatures on the factory floor from 80 degrees to 75 degrees (where t is the temperature)?

21. Problems With Production Function Studies in Education • Production function studies are inappropriate models for education • In this case, the workplace temperature would be adjusted, and the increased utilities cost would be measured against the anticipated increase in widget production. If the increased cost resulted in increased profit, the change would be affected

22. In most industrial situations, the factory’s supply of widget parts undergoes a systematic, rigid quality control check • Defective widgets are not accepted in the production line • Through many studies, all widget processes are known to take the same average time to assemble • All widget workers work at approximately the same rate • Workers who produce significantly more widgets per hour may receive higher pay rates. Widget workers who produce significantly fewer widgets per hour are fired

23. No “Quality Control” Factor in Students (Product) in School • Students enter with varying levels of reading and math preparedness and ability, varying beliefs about the value of school, and varied family backgrounds • Some children come to school loved & nurtured. Others come to school abused & neglected • Some arrive daily, prepared to learn and others are frequently absent, unable to benefit from classroom learning activities

24. The “Production Process” in Schools Varies • Education’s production process is not standardized • School cultures vary about teaching and learning beliefs. • Teacher quality varies • The physical condition of schools varies, class size fluctuates, teacher experience & education levels differ, and financial compensation for service does not coincide with student achievement

25. The “Production Process” in Schools Varies, cont. • Most importantly, per pupil spending varies significantly from state to state & from district to district

26. What reasonable basis exits for making sound judgments about education spending inputs and outputs? What valid and reliable information is available about spending and student achievement?

27. Research on: Teacher Quality Professional Development Class Size School Size Teacher Salaries Facilities ….& Student Achievement

28. Research: Money & Student Achievement • Contemporary studies of Coleman’s 1966 Report showed positive associations between school spending and financial earnings in the workforce • One reanalysis of Hanushek’s work concluded that money does matter to student achievement • Another study determined that per pupil expenditures, controlling for other factors, significantly related to student outcomes

29. Teacher Quality & School Finance • “We know what constitutes good teaching, and we know that good teaching can matter more than students’ family backgrounds and economic status.” • “There is significant research to indicate it is the quality of the teacher and teaching that are the most powerful predictors of student success.”

30. Teacher Quality & Student Achievement • Darling-Hammond found that teacher quality variables, such as full certification and a completing a major in the teaching field are more important to student outcomes in reading and math than are student demographic variables such as poverty, minority status, and language background

31. Teacher Quality & Student Achievement, cont. • This teacher preparation, according to Darling-Hammond, accounts for 40% to 60% of the total variance in student achievement controlling for the students’ demographic background

32. Verbal Ability Content Knowledge Education Methods related to their Academic Discipline Licensing Exam Scores Skillful Teaching Behaviors On-Going Professional Development Enthusiasm for Teaching Others Teaching Factors Found Linked to Student Achievement

36. Teacher Quality & Adequate Yearly Progress • With NCLB requirements that all four subgroups (disadvantaged, minority, disabled, and English language learners) show adequate yearly progress, the value of teacher quality is increasingly crucial • Data taken from the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP data) indicate that effective teachers make a difference in minority achievement

38. At testing time, both Texas and Virginia had been high-stakes testing states for several years before testing, with harsh consequences to schools & students who did not achieve at predetermined levels • Arkansas and Mississippi were not • One can assume that Texas and Virginia teachers felt explicit pressures to assure that even traditionally lower achieving students mastered the “standard curriculum” & used those effective practices in their classrooms that brought more children across the bar

39. Knowing how much high quality teachers contribute to student achievement, education dollars appear best spent in hiring & keeping the highest quality teachers possible Seeking quality teachers & implementing working conditions & salary structures designed to maximize hiring & keeping them may be the best use of limited education dollars Education $$$ & Teacher Quality

40. Professional Development Increases Student Achievement • Quality professional development programs can have a positive impact on student achievement • Every extra factor that provides teachers with techniques for individualizing instruction increases student achievement

41. Studies of the 1996 NAEP data indicated that professional development in cultural diversity, teaching techniques for addressing needs of students with limited English proficiency, and teaching students identified with special education needs are are linked to higher student achievement in math Professional Development Increases Student Achievement, cont.

42. Systematic study of learning processes allow teachers to reflect and address their own teaching and learning beliefs and practices & analyze & improve what they do in the classroom Effective Professional Development

43. Teachers who believe that their instructional practices have a direct impact on student achievement are more likely to seek out and implement new teaching and learning techniques Effective Professional Development, cont.

44. Other research has found that when professional development is sustained over time and based on curriculum standards, teachers are more likely to adopt new and reform-based teaching practices Subsequently, their students achieve at higher levels on standardized tests Professional Development Increases Student Achievement

45. Class Size & Increased Student Achievement • Salaries consume the largest part of education budgets • Does the increased cost of decreasing class size produce enough achievement gain to warrant spending limited resources towards that end or are there other & more cost productive ways to increase student achievement?

46. Class Size & Increased Student Achievement, cont. • Effect size measures the change in the experimental group’s standard deviation units • An effect size of 1.0 means that students in the experimental group would score one standard deviation above those in the control group. If the students in the control group were scoring at the 50th percentile, the students in the experimental group would be scoring one standard deviation higher, or at the 84.13th percentile

47. Research on Class Size &Student Achievement • Unfortunately, findings in several studies indicate that the advantages of small classes, defined as 13 to 19 pupils, may not continue in later school years • Likewise, several cost effectiveness studies of various strategies for improving student learning indicate that reducing class size has a small positive effect on achievement compared to many less costly strategies

48. Research on Class Size &Student Achievement, cont. • Decreased class size is, at times, associated with an increase in the cost of additional classrooms • Furthermore, attempts to decrease class size would of necessity require hiring additional teachers. Lowering licensure/teacher quality regulations to attract additional candidates of lower quality could negate the gains of smaller classes

49. Research on Class Size &Student Achievement, cont. • The earlier studies seemed to cast some doubt as to the efficacy of spending money to reduce class size as monies might better be spent elsewhere to better effect • Evidence exists that class size makes a difference in math & reading achievement for in grades 1 – 3, especially for at-risk students

50. Cost Effectiveness at Various Resource Levels 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.09 0.06 0.04 0.02 .00 30.00 25.00 21.43 18.75 16.67 15.00 13.64 12.50 Outcome Class Size