ERIC Number: EJ1070464
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jun-29
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1068 2341
EISSN: N/A
Measuring the Alignment between States' Finance and Accountability Policies: The Opportunity Gap
Della Sala, Matthew R.; Knoeppel, Robert C.
Education Policy Analysis Archives, v23 n61 Jun 2015
The research described in this paper expands on attempts to conceptualize, measure, and evaluate the degree to which states have aligned their finance systems with their respective accountability policies. State education finance and accountability policies serve as levers to provide equal educational opportunities for all students--scholars have called for the alignment of education finance and accountability policies as a means for states to meet the demands of educational adequacy. A metric titled the "opportunity gap" was developed, calculated, and tested to represent the degree of misalignment between the equity of states' finance systems and the intended equity of student performance outcomes defined in accountability policies. School finance and student performance data from nine states were collected for this analysis. Findings indicated that none of the states were delivering simultaneous equity in finance and accountability systems- none of the states provided both equity of finance inputs and equity of student performance outputs. Implications for future research on measuring the alignment between finance and accountability policies are provided by the authors.
Descriptors: Accountability, Educational Finance, Outcomes of Education, Educational Equity (Finance), Correlation, Funding Formulas, Demography, Economic Factors
Colleges of Education at Arizona State University and the University of South Florida. c/o Editor, USF EDU162, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620-5650. Tel: 813-974-3400; Fax: 813-974-3826; Web site: http://epaa.asu.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado; Kentucky; Massachusetts; Minnesota; New York; Ohio; South Carolina; Texas; Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A