ERIC Number: ED355242
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1992-Nov
Pages: 28
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
How Meaningful Are Report Cards on Schools?
Bobbett, Gordon C.; And Others
In 1991, the investigators completed a series of studies of data on Tennessee's 1988-89 school district report cards. The relationships among eight variables (average attendance, professional salaries, county per capita income, expenditure per student, average daily membership, percentage of oversized classes, percentage of students on free or reduced lunch programs, and percentage of educators on upper career ladder levels) were examined in relation to student outcomes. In 1990-91 Tennessee brought "on line" its new Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), thereby creating a new set of outcome measures. The 1990-91 report cards also added more school characteristics, which in turn enabled the investigators to expand their analyses from 8 to 15 variables. This report extends the previous study to the 1990-91 year and the new variables are as follows: (1) number of schools in the district; (2) percentage of enrollment change; (3) percentage of regular diplomas awarded; (4) percentage of honors diplomas awarded; (5) percentage of vocational students; (6) percentage of special education students; and (7) percentage of Chapter 1 students. Even with the added variables, Tennessee school district report cards do not appear to tell enough about what influences student achievement to enable policymakers to improve education in the state and local communities. Building-level data do appear to be more useful than district-level data for use in report cards. Ten tables present study findings, and one bar graph illustrates the influence of the variables. (SLD)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Tennessee
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A