Chapter 12
Spending &
Student Achievement
• 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
• Does public
education make
a difference in
student
achievement
apart from
family
influences?
• Educational
leaders need to
know where they
can get the
“biggest bang for
the instructional
buck” in
advancing student
achievement
• 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.
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
Coleman Study Findings
• The Coleman
study findings
were interpreted to
say that schools
had little impact
on student
achievement
outside of the
family background
• Educational inputs
(such as, studentteacher ratio, funding
resources, teaching
practices, quality of
school facilities) did
not appear to
contribute much to
student achievement
Coleman Study Findings,
cont.
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.
• This finding made the report
particularly influential in some
educational and political circles
Coleman Study &
Educational Spending
• The Coleman study’s results led to some
current thinking that education
spending levels do not have a
significant impact student
achievement
• To some politicians and policy makers,
this study justified reducing taxes
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
Coleman Study Had
Political Impact & Momentum
• Unfortunately, Coleman’s study
overshadowed the others relegating
them rather obscurity
Coleman Report Fallout
• 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
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
Faulty Research to Support
Reduced Education Funding
• 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,
cont.
• 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
• 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
Debate Continues About
Money & Student Achievement
• 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
Coleman Study Methods:
Production Function Study
• 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?
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)?
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
• 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
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
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
The “Production Process”
in Schools Varies, cont.
• Most importantly,
per pupil spending varies
significantly from
state to state &
from district to district
• 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?
Research on:
• Teacher Quality
• Professional Development
• Class Size
• School Size
• Teacher Salaries
….& Student
Achievement
• Facilities
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
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.”
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
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
Teaching Factors Found Linked
to Student Achievement
• 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
35%ile Difference in
Students’ Reading Scores:
Effective Teachers
Ineffective Teachers
(For 3 consecutive years)
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
• Grade 6
59%ile
60%ile
76%ile
42%ile
(similar study found a 49%ile point difference in Math)
Archer, J. (1998, February 18). Students’ fortune rests with assigned teacher. Education Week. Cited in
Haycock, K. (Summer 1998). Good teaching matters. How well-qualified teachers can close the gap
Thinking K-16 Vol. 3. No. 2 1-14. [Online}. Washington, DC: The Education Trust. Available:
http://www.edtrust.org
11
50+%ile Difference in
Students’ Math Scores:
Effective Teachers
Ineffective Teachers
(For 3 consecutive years)
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
• Grade 6
no difference -- no difference
83%ile
29%ile
Sanders, W.L. and Rivers, J.C. (1996, November). Cumulative and residual
effects of teachers on future student academic achievement. Knoxville:
University of Tennessee, Tennessee Value Added Assessment System
(TVAAS).
12
Data: NAEP, 1996
• 8th graders scored one • 8th graders scored
full grade level above
72% ahead in math &
peers when teachers
40% ahead in science
had:
when teachers :
– Strong content
knowledge
– Able to work with
students with special
needs & from different
cultures
– Integrated hands-on
learning
– Frequent in-class
teacher assessments
into lessons
Wenglinsky, H. How Teaching Matters. Princeton, NJ: The Milken Family
Foundation & Educational Testing Service (October 2000).
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
Data: NAEP 1998
Effective Teaching &
Minority Achievement
• Grade 8 Writing:
– African American
students:
– 146 points – Texas
– 121 points – Arkansas
**A 25-point difference
worth 2 ½ years of
learning.
• Grade 8 Writing:
– Latino students:
– 146 points – Virginia
– 106 points – Mississippi
** A 40 point difference
worth 3-4 years of
learning.
Haycock, Jerald, & Huang, 2001. “Closing the Gap: Done in a Decade.”
Thinking K-16, 5 (2). Washington, DC: The Education Trust (Spring 2001):3-22.
 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
Education $$$ &
Teacher Quality
• 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
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
Professional Development
Increases Student Achievement,
cont.
• 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
Effective Professional
Development
• 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, cont.
• 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
Professional Development
Increases Student Achievement
• 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
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?
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
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
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
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
Cost Effectiveness at
Various Resource Levels
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10
0.09
0.06
0.04
0.02
.00
Class Size
• As policy makers examine
the role of decreased class
size and achievement, it is
important to understand that other
variables may well come into play
• Reducing class size without
simultaneously improving
teacher and teaching quality
appears to be both expensive
and often ineffective
Reduced School Size &
Student Achievement
• Recent substantial grant
awards from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation
to large urban school
districts to create smaller
schools suggest that
reduced school size is
associated with increased
student achievement
Reduced School Size &
Student Achievement, cont.
• A 2002 study for the Rural School &
Community Trust found in a 7-state study
(Alaska, California, Georgia, Montana, Ohio,
Texas, and West Virginia) that smaller
schools reduce the harmful effects of
poverty on student achievement and help
students from less affluent communities
narrow the academic achievement gap
between them and students from wealthier
communities
Study on Reduced School Size &
Student Achievement, cont.
• No consensus on the actual size of a “small
•
•
•
•
school” (600 or fewer students)
Smaller schools produce better results in
student attendance, test scores, graduation
rates, & extra curricular participation
Increased parents satisfaction ratings from
improved communication & participation
Increased teachers satisfaction in their ability to
make a real difference in student learning
Produce a safer learning environment
Small Schools Are Expensive,
but Cost Effective
• Smaller schools
appear to be
more expensive
to operate on a
per-pupil basis,
thereby reducing
efficiency
• Smaller schools
may be more cost
effective, however,
when considered
on a cost per
graduate basis
• Also lower dropout
rates
Small Schools Are Expensive
but Cost Effective, cont.
• Certainly, there
are means for
decreasing the
apparent size of a
large school by
implementing a
“school within a
school” concept
• Smaller schools
organized within a
larger school may
be a way to achieve
the benefits of
smaller schools
Teacher Salaries &
Student Achievement
• Virtually no one doubts the common belief
that higher salaries attract brighter individuals
into a profession
• Teachers’ salaries have slipped 15 percent
since 1993 and 12 percent since 1983 after
adjusting for inflation
• A tradition of low pay & salaries paid from
public coffers keeps teacher pay artificially
low today even when there is a teacher
shortage
• Teacher salaries are now well
below those of comparable
professions, complicating efforts
to attract and keep highly
qualified educators
• Although teachers tend to
receive benefits, their health
insurance and pensions are not
valuable enough to offset the
wage difference
• Nor do teachers receive paid
leave, bonuses, or overtime
available in other professions
Teacher Salaries &
Student Achievement, cont.
• The difficulty of empirically linking
increased teacher quality with higher
teacher salaries lies in the fact that most
school districts have salary schedules
based on of years of experience and
professional degrees
• Salaries are not based on student
achievement
Teacher Salaries &
Student Achievement, cont.
“Nobody doubts that increasing teacher salaries will
expand the pool of potential teachers from which a
district can choose. But the influence on
students depends directly on the ability of
districts to choose the best teachers from the
expanded pool. Research shows that the typical
school district does poorly in these choices. The
combination of these factors implies there is
virtually no relationship between teacher salaries
and student achievement. ”
Teacher Salaries &
Student Achievement, cont.
• While some school districts do not do a good job
selecting the highest quality teachers, it is false to
assume that there is no relationship between
salary and student achievement
• The evidence is overwhelming that teacher quality
is related to student achievement
• Salary is a proven method of attracting a larger
applicant pool. Selecting the highest quality
teachers from that pool is key
Teacher Salaries &
Student Achievement, cont.
• In fact, The Teaching Commission, a non-
profit group formed in 2003 to improve
teaching, has recommended raising teacher
base salaries as a means to make the
profession’s pay more competitive and
attract higher quality teachers
School Facilities &
Student Achievement
• Studies show a 5 to 17-percentile point
difference in standardized test scores for
students in good facilities (well-maintained
buildings with comfortable room and hall
temperatures, satisfactory lighting, appropriate
noise levels, good roofs, sufficient space)
compared with poor facilities (poorly
maintained, too cold or hot rooms, inadequate
lighting, high noise levels, leaky roofs,
overcrowding) controlling for the
socioeconomic status (SES) of the students
Facilities Can Help or Hurt
Student Achievement
• A school’s acoustic quality can permit or
hinder a students’ to hear clearly and
understand what is being spoken
• Rooms maintained within the temperature &
humidity tolerances of 67 degrees to 73
degrees and 50 percent relative humidity (to
reduce incidence of illness) AND
• Above standard school buildings that provide
the appropriate learning environment
conditions are all prerequisites for effective
learning
Facilities Can Help or Hurt
Student Achievement, cont.
• In a study of elementary schools in the
District of Columbia, Berner found that
if a school district were to improve
conditions of its schools from poor to
excellent, student achievement scores
would increase an average of 10.9
percentile points
Older Buildings &
Student Achievement
• Many of the building factors necessary
for proper learning environments are
absent in older buildings, and student
achievement in older buildings is lower
than that of students in newer ones
Teacher Morale &
School Facilities
• Teachers in buildings in
poor condition stated that
the facility’s design &
appearance had a negative
impact upon the learning
climate while teachers in
buildings in good condition
report the building had a
positive influence on the
learning climate
Perception
often
influences (&
perhaps
creates)
reality.
Teacher Morale &
School Facilities, cont.
•
Working in substandard buildings or in
newer buildings that were poorly
maintained or repaired harms
teachers’ morale and increases their
work frustration
• These attitudes likely transfer
negatively into their classroom
expectations and practices, reducing
student achievement
Overcrowded Schools Reduce
Student Achievement
• Corcoran et al. (1988) reported that overcrowding
resulted in high absentee rates for students and
teachers
• Additionally, overcrowded schools are often
noisier and create more paperwork
• Stressful and unpleasant learning and working
conditions, related negative attitudes, and lower
attendance reduce learning opportunities and
measured achievement
Educational Spending &
Increased Student
Achievement
• Many studies show positive relationships
between increased spending on
education and student achievement
• One Virginia Tech study, using an
improved model for examining
production function studies, found
significant increases in student
achievement with increases in
instructional expenditures
• The rapidly rising cost of steel,
concrete, and other construction
materials – often between 15 and
30 percent – are forcing some
districts that are building new
schools to seek additional funds,
delay, or redesign projects
• Prices for nearly every construction
material have been rising at
double-digit percentages, making
serious difficulties for the $29 billion
school construction industry
School Finance & Student
Achievement
With research clearly affirming that school
funding carefully targeted on enhancing
teaching quality, designing appropriate school
organization, and providing comfortable
facilities make a measurable difference in
student achievement, communities and
school leaders find serious challenges to
finding additional resources to support public
education