scholarly journals School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Lafortune ◽  
Jesse Rothstein ◽  
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Representative Samples

We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called “adequacy” era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in spending in low-income school districts. Using representative samples from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, we find that reforms cause increases in the achievement of students in these districts, phasing in gradually over the years following the reform. The implied effect of school resources on educational achievement is large. (JEL H75, I21, I22, I24, I28)

Understanding the Equity Consequences of School-Finance Reform

1978 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Friedman ◽  
Michael Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Before And After ◽  
School Financing ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
The Impact

In this essay, Lee S. Friedman and Michael Wiseman discuss the economic, legal,and logical implications of school-financing methods now practiced in several states, including Illinois, New York, and California. Examining the Serrano case in California, the authors contend that an important inconsistency in the court requirements resulted from the apparent failure of both the courts and the legislatures to specify the logical relationships between several competing concepts of equality. To this end, Friedman and Wiseman provide a logical analysis of several concepts needed to measure the fair distribution of school revenues and resources. Using Illinois as a case study, they then construct empirical tests for each of those concepts both before and after the Hoffman-Fawell reform in school financing. Those data, finally, are used to suggest an analytic framework that can be employed for evaluating and perhaps predicting the impact of school-finance reforms on a wide range of state systems.

The Local Impact of School Finance Reform in Four Texas School Districts

1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence O. Picus
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
Fiscal Conditions ◽  
Local Impact ◽  
Texas School Districts

This article describes how four Texas school districts responded to changed fiscal conditions following the implementation of reforms designed to bring greater equity to Texas school finance. Case studies in two poor districts revealed that although there were substantial increases in funding available, very little of this new money was spent on improvements to the core curriculum. In the two wealthy districts, one struggled to maintain current spending levels, with very few changes in priorities, while the other was able to pass a substantial property tax increase for school improvement. However, a substantial portion of the increased funds was used to replace lost state money.

Does School Finance Reform Reduce the Race Gap in School Funding?

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-707
Author(s):  
Michah W. Rothbart
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
New York State ◽  
School Funding ◽  
Racial Composition ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Litigation ◽  
The Impact

This paper offers new evidence on the impacts of school finance reforms (SFRs) precipitated by school finance litigation, exploring the extent to which the impact of SFR differs by district racial composition. Using difference-in-differences and event study models with a series of district and year (or state-by-year) fixed effects, and a sixteen-year panel of over 10,000 school districts, my analyses exploit variation in funding across school districts, and timing of school finance court orders across states, to estimate the effect of SFR on the distribution of district funding by racial composition. Models include relevant control variables available in national data and results are robust to numerous alternative specifications, including estimating impacts on percent changes in resources (in addition to levels), restricting analyses to districts in SFR states, controlling for additional covariates available in only some years and some states, and adding controls for state-specific time trends. In addition, I estimate changes in New York State to assess whether and to what extent results are sensitive to additional controls for revenue-raising capacity and district costs. Results suggest that SFR can work to alleviate racial funding gaps, though impacts are moderate.

scholarly journals The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms *

2015 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kirabo Jackson ◽  
Rucker C. Johnson ◽  
Claudia Persico
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Finance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adult Outcomes ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
Point Reduction ◽  
K 12 ◽  
School Spending

Abstract Since the Coleman Report, many have questioned whether public school spending affects student outcomes. The school finance reforms that began in the early 1970s and accelerated in the 1980s caused dramatic changes to the structure of K–12 education spending in the United States. To study the effect of these school finance reform–induced changes in public school spending on long-run adult outcomes, we link school spending and school finance reform data to detailed, nationally representative data on children born between 1955 and 1985 and followed through 2011. We use the timing of the passage of court-mandated reforms and their associated type of funding formula change as exogenous shifters of school spending, and we compare the adult outcomes of cohorts that were differentially exposed to school finance reforms, depending on place and year of birth. Event study and instrumental variable models reveal that a 10% increase in per pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school leads to 0.31 more completed years of education, about 7% higher wages, and a 3.2 percentage point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty; effects are much more pronounced for children from low-income families. Exogenous spending increases were associated with notable improvements in measured school inputs, including reductions in student-to-teacher ratios, increases in teacher salaries, and longer school years.

Predicting the Cost of Fiscal Equalization in School Finance

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Gilmer
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Estimating Equation ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Fiscal Equalization ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Very High ◽  
Tax Bases

The recent appearance on the national scene of the Serrano and Rodriguez cases served to dramatize one of the most persistent problems of school finance reform–the vast differences between the tax bases per pupil and the ability to provide educational services among school districts in the same state. As these cases have highlighted the issue, and as the presence of these inequities have been more widely recognized, the states have begun to consider reform more seriously. One of the major obstacles to the elimination of these fiscal differentials is the apparent cost. Although intuition would argue for a very high cost, there seems to have been no consistent estimates. This article estimates the cost for Texas. Using an estimating equation for shifts in district expenditure under different tax bases and aid patterns, and solving a system of equations for the fiscal equalization, I have derived the estimates. The results are encouraging as the tax bill for such reform may be less than the previously available estimates would lead us to believe.

SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM: AID FORMULAS AND EQUITY OBJECTIVES

1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM DUNCOMBE ◽  
JOHN YINGER
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform

scholarly journals Caught In-Between: The Impact of Different Forms of Mandated National Assessment for Qualifications on Teacher Decision-Making in Year 12 History in New Zealand, 1986-2005

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Gregor James Fountain
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Teacher Autonomy ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
Written Curriculum ◽  
The Impact

<p>This case study takes an historical perspective to explore the curriculum decision-making of History teachers in New Zealand. It is argued that between 1986 and 2005, Year 12 History teachers were caught in-between curriculum reform on one hand, which encouraged teacher autonomy, and on the other hand, assessment reform which reduced teacher autonomy. While teachers in this study utilised the autonomy provided by internal assessment to develop engaging class and assessment activities, they largely avoided topics in Māori, Pasifika and Women’s history which were promoted through the syllabus. Factors which contributed to teachers' decisions concerning curriculum topics included teachers' perceptions of the nature of disciplinary History, personal interest and resource availability. The primary focus on this thesis is an assessment of the impact of changes to national assessment for qualifications on Year 12 History programmes. It argues that mandated assessment for qualifications is the single-most determining factor on classroom practice. It is also argued that the assessment style which emerged for Year 12 History through the National Certificate of Educational Achievement disconnected History assessment from the intentions of its written curriculum which emphasised disciplinary History's underlying and interconnected process of gathering, analysing and presenting historical information. In some cases, the NCEA hindered rather than enhanced the development of a school-based curriculum at this level.</p>

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