ERIC Number: ED532365
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Aug
Pages: 20
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Assessing the Distribution of Fiscal and Personnel Resources across Schools. A Report Prepared for Twin Rivers Unified School District. SSFR Research Report #01 (TRUSD)
Chambers, Jay G.; Levin, Jesse; Brodziak, Iliana; Chan, Derek
Strategic School Funding for Results
Using fiscal data provided by the finance office of the school district, and personnel data obtained from the California Basic Education Data System (maintained by the California Department of Education, or CDE), the authors present analyses to provide a foundation for local policymakers that may be used to assess whether there are inequities in the way fiscal and personnel resources are distributed across schools. They begin their analysis of the equity of inputs with the examination of outputs; first they examine the relationship between the school percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch program and the school level performance data, obtained from the CDE. This is followed by an analysis of the relationship between school resource allocation (spending and staffing) and student needs. They find that: (1) Schools with the highest percentage of students from low-income families exhibited the lowest performance on the California Academic Performance Index (API); (2) The highest-need schools, those serving the higher percentages of students identified as being socioeconomically disadvantaged and/or English language learners, generally spent somewhat more per pupil than the lowest-need schools; (3) Schools with the highest percentages of low-income students had relatively more FTE teachers per 100 students; (4) In terms of the qualifications of teachers, elementary and middle schools with the highest percentages of low-income students had somewhat more experienced teachers than other elementary and middle schools (the differences were about one year, on average). The high schools with the highest percentages of low-income students tended to have the least experienced teachers compared to other high schools; and (5) Out-of-field teaching appeared to be randomly distributed across high schools, showing no consistent relationship to student needs. (Contains 16 exhibits and 4 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Student Needs, Academic Achievement, School Districts, Research Reports, Low Income Groups, Personnel Data, Statistical Data, School Statistics, Resource Allocation, Input Output Analysis, Achievement Gains, Achievement Rating, Disadvantaged, Expenditure per Student, Teacher Student Ratio, Teacher Qualifications, Experienced Teachers, Educational Finance, Strategic Planning, Funding Formulas, Educational Equity (Finance)
Strategic School Funding for Results. Available from: American Institutes for Research. 2800 Campus Drive Suite 200, San Mateo, CA 94403. Web site: http://www.schoolfundingforresults.org
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Ford Foundation
Authoring Institution: Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR)
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A