 21PSTEM News
Study Finds Little Relationship between the Amount of Educational Expenditures Per Student and High School Achievement in Pennsylvania
September 2, 2010
 September 2, 2010: A new study of 498 school districts in Pennsylvania found little relationship between the amount of educational expenditures per student and high school student achievement. The study questions the findings of the Pennsylvania Costing Out Study of 2007 that contended up to $4.57 billion more was required to achieve 100% proficiency for all students.
The study examined 15 categories of educational expenditures per pupil and whether different amounts of money spent affected PSSA math, reading and science scores and SAT scores for 2007, 2008 and 2009. The study also looked at the effect of changes in expenditures between 2007 and 2009 and their corresponding changes in achievement. In sum, there was either no or very weak association between levels of education expenditures and 11th grade student achievement after controlling for other variables.
Instead, the strongest association with high school student achievement for both PSSA scores and SAT scores is the percentage of adults in a district who have earned a four year college degree (bachelors). This is followed by the percentage of white students in a district and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch. Spending per pupil, regardless of expenditure category, had either no association with student achievement or at best only a weak positive or a weak negative correlation with student achievement.
Figures from the Pennsylvania Department of Education show total per pupil expenditures in 2009 ranged between $9,224 and $25,714.
|
|
“It is understandable that many would feel there is the urgent necessity, if not moral imperative, to try to solve the problems of low 11th grade student performance by spending more money to narrow these gaps in expenditures. Yet, the results of our study show that mere money as measured by Expenditures per pupil are not, in fact, associated with 11th grade PSSA proficiency in math, reading or science, or SAT math and verbal scores in 2007, 2008, 2009 to any practical degree. The correlations between these variables are near zero and in some cases even slightly negative. Moreover, we found that the relationship between changes in expenditures from 2007-2009 and changes in student outcomes are weak at best,” according to F. Joseph Merlino, lead author of the study.
The 50 districts Pennsylvania districts with the lowest per pupil expenditures scored nearly identical to 50 districts with the highest per pupil expenditures .
The study follows previous national studies and well as studies conducted in New Jersey which also found no relationship between additional district expenditures and high school student achievement before and after the 1990 Abbott II court decision which ordered substantially more state funds to poorer school districts.
“The issue is not that money doesn’t matter, but rather how the money is spent. There are many promising strategies at the high school level that research suggests can both raise achievement and reduce achievement gaps. Our experience in working with many districts confirm that smart, strategic investments may yield substantial dividends in student achievement,” said Merlino.
The study recommended that the Commonwealth establish a statewide network of school/research improvement teams comprised of local universities and nonprofit educational and research organizations to ensure funds are well targeted and based on results. An example of this kind of research relationship is the nationally recognized Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/content/index.php.
The study was conducted by a team of statisticians and data analysts from four universities and two nonprofit organizations. Funding for the study was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Download the Study Here! |
|
