scholarly journals Equity and efficiency of Minnesota educational expenditures with a focus on English learners, 2003-2011: A retrospective look in a time of accountability

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola A. Alexander ◽  
Sung Tae Jang
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Finance ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Educational Funding ◽  
Instructional Expenditures ◽  
Educational Expenditures ◽  
Equity And Efficiency ◽  
Standard Distribution ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Using Data

Policymakers and practitioners often must balance distributing resources equitably and efficiently while being accountable for high student achievement. This paper focuses on these concepts as they relate to English learners and examines equity and efficiency in Minnesota’s educational funding from 2003 through 2011, the years spanning implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and Minnesota’s waiver from its regulations. Equity refers to the distribution of resources in the achievement of established goals (Alexander, 2012); efficiency entails the attainment of those goals using fewer resources (Rolle, 2004). We measure equity by looking at three standard distribution measures: (1) McCloone Index; (2) Verstegen Index; and (3) Coefficient of Variation (Odden & Picus, 2008). We operationalize efficiency using data envelope analysis, thus getting at aspects of technical efficiency. We found that distribution of expenditures are increasingly uneven in the nine-year period examined. This inequality was largely driven by low-spending districts falling farther behind the median. Moreover, despite specific guidelines in its school finance formula that awarded additional resources for English learner populations, districts with higher portions of English learners have lower total and instructional expenditures per pupil, not higher. If more dollars are not available for EL programming, then doing more with less becomes paramount. Nevertheless, the efficiency of resource use was relatively constant over the years examined with efficiency in the use of education resources similar for English learners as it was for the population overall.

The morphing assessment terrain for English learners in US schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-126
Author(s):  
Mary Hutchinson ◽  
Xenia Hadjioannou
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Proficiency Tests ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Tests ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the public policy reshaping the assessment terrain for English learners (ELs) across the USA and to consider the implications and impact of these practices on sustaining and supporting a diverse student population in today’s schools. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the literature and publicly available policy documents to trace key policy trends over the past 15 years that have shaped the current educational landscape and assessment practices for ELs in the USA. Findings In the USA, the 2015 Common Core State Standards (CCSSs) assessments generated worrisome results for ELs, as significant numbers had failing scores in English language arts and math. These results are juxtaposed to public policies that impact the educational experience of ELs, including No Child Left Behind and the CCSS, and which, despite their stated intentions to ameliorate the achievement gap, are found to be assimilationist in nature. Indeed, a review of the initiatives of developing common EL standards and English language proficiency tests and the recommendations for EL accommodations in state tests suggests several areas of concern. The recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act focuses on this vulnerable population, but there are concerns that the continued focus on accountability and testing will do little to facilitate academic progress for these students. Practical implications The paper recommends a need to reevaluate the support and testing process for ELs to stem widespread failure and ascertain the sustenance of democratic and diversified schools. Originality/value The study provides an overview of key policy trends, outlines and critiques recent changes in the assessment of ELs and draws implications for practice.

scholarly journals Coign of vantage and action: Considering California’ local accountability and school finance plans for English learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Vasquez Heilig ◽  
Lisa S. Romero ◽  
Megan Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Local Control ◽  
School Finance ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Educational Equity ◽  
Public Schooling ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Funding Formula ◽  
Local Control Funding Formula

Local control has been a bedrock principle of public schooling in America since its inception. In 2013, the California Legislature codified a new local accountability approach for school finance. An important component of the new California Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) approach is a focus on English learners (ELs). The law mandates that every school district produce a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) to engage the local community in defining outcomes and determining funding for ELs. Based on an exploratory analysis of a representative sample of LCAPs, we show that, although California’s new approach offered an opportunity to support locally-defined priorities and alternatives to top-down accountability, few if any districts had yet took full advantage of the opportunity. That is, the school districts in our sample had not yet engaged with the local community to facilitate significant changes to accountability or redistribution of funding and resources to support educational equity for ELs.

High School Size and Student Indiscipline: Another Aspect of the School Consolidation Issue?

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil J. Haller
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
School Consolidation ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Rural High Schools ◽  
Equity And Efficiency ◽  
Large Schools ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data

School consolidation is again an issue in rural areas. Traditionally, such controversies have turned on criteria of equity and efficiency: Large schools are alleged to be more equitable and more efficient than small ones. However, the research on both criteria is exceedingly ambiguous; neither goal seems to be routinely served by making small rural schools larger. This article investigates another possible criterion for judging the desirability of creating larger schools, student indiscipline. Both theory and evidence suggest that large schools are more disorderly than small ones. Using data from a nationally representative sample of high schools, this study suggests that creating larger institutions will increase student misbehavior. However, the increase experienced by small rural high schools—those most at risk of consolidation—will border the trivial. Thus, indiscipline provides no less ambiguous a criterion for deciding consolidation issues than does equity or efficiency. Arguably, when “technical” criteria provide no clear guidelines for an important public policy decision, citizen preferences should be determinative.

The Rhode to Turnaround: The Impact of Waivers to No Child Left Behind on School Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun M. Dougherty ◽  
Jennie M. Weiner
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Fuzzy Regression ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Using data from Rhode Island, and deploying a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design, this study capitalizes on a natural experiment in which schools, in accordance with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers, were sorted into performance categories based on a continuous performance measure. The lowest performing schools were then mandated to implement interventions. We find that schools implementing fewer interventions perform no differently than comparable schools without such requirements. Additionally, schools just required to implement more interventions performed worse than comparable schools implementing fewer. Finally, we find differences in the probability of student mobility from lower performing schools.

scholarly journals “Boots on the ground”: The authority-power dynamic of regional service centers in standards-based reform

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Katie Pak ◽  
Jillian McLaughlin ◽  
Erica Saldivar Garcia ◽  
Laura M. Desimone
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Content Standards ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
Standards Based Reform ◽  
Regional Service ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
Using Data ◽  
State Content

The current context of standards-based reform has positioned regional service centers (RSCs), intermediary governmental agencies that support state policy implementation in local districts, as a critical source of professional development (PD). In this article, we ask how a governing body that districts often interact with during challenging reform processes manages maintain strong relationships with district and school staff, and thus maintain their image as trustworthy experts on standards implementation. We explore these questions using data from 108 interviews of state, district, and regional administrators in education agencies in Ohio, Texas, and California over a three-year period. We illustrate that by providing districts with (a) differentiated support specific to their unique needs, (b) materials and tools consistent with state content standards, and (c) expertise in supporting students with disabilities and English learners in standards-based environments, RSC staff become, in the words of one state leader, the state’s trusted “boots on the ground.”

scholarly journals Imbalanced literacy? How a US national educational policy has affected English learners and their teachers

2011 ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Judy Sharkey
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
National Educational Policy ◽  
Institutional Contexts

Learning and teaching are always affected by institutional contexts and their policies, ranging from the classroom policies that teachers establish or enact—tacitly or explicitly, to the larger rings of policy set by schools, organizations, districts, states, and/or country. How is policy enacted on a local level? How does such policy affect the needs and realities of students and teachers? How does listening to teacher concerns contribute to valid critiques of policy? This article addresses those questions as they pertain to the US education policy known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It is told through the perspectives and experiences of six English language teachers in three public schools in one urban school district in the Northeastern United States. Although teachers’ concerns are often dismissed as anecdotal, they can offer valuable insights into the weaknesses of policiesand/or programs. In the often, dichotomous worlds of policy and practice, this story highlights the critical need to attend to both.  

How States Fund Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Srikanth ◽  
Michael Atzbi ◽  
Bruce D. Baker ◽  
Mark Weber
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Funding Equity ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Using Data ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Funding Disparities

In the United States, the vast majority of funding for K–12 education is provided through state and local governments to school districts. Throughout history, school districts have remained highly segregated both by income/wealth and by race, leading to reduced levels of funding available for higher need districts compared to wealthier districts. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze funding disparities within states and to determine differences between states with respect to funding equity. First, the chapter begins with a discussion of the sources of revenue for education at the state and local levels. Second, it explains the purpose and design of state aid formulas to reduce funding disparities between districts. Third, using data from the School Finance Indicators Database, the chapter calculates funding effort and progressivity indices for each state. Fourth, it provides case studies on two states with more progressive and less progressive funding, New Jersey and Illinois. Finally, the chapter concludes with policy recommendations on how states can improve their school finance systems to provide adequate levels of funding for higher need districts.

scholarly journals Unscheduled School Closings and Student Performance

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave E. Marcotte ◽  
Steven W. Hemelt
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Adequate Yearly Progress ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
School Closings ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Instruction Time ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Using Data

Do students perform better on statewide assessments in years in which they have more school days to prepare? We explore this question using data on math and reading assessments taken by students in the third, fifth, and eighth grades since 1994 in Maryland. Our identification strategy is rooted in the fact that tests are administered on the same day(s) statewide in late winter or early spring, so any unscheduled closings due to snow reduce instruction time and are not made up until after the exams are over. We estimate that in academic years with an average number of unscheduled closures (five), the number of third graders performing satisfactorily on state reading and math assessments within a school is nearly 3 percent lower than in years with no school closings. The impacts of closure are smaller for students in fifth and eighth grades. Combining our estimates with actual patterns of unscheduled closings in the last three years, we find that more than half of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in third-grade math or reading, required under No Child Left Behind, would have met AYP if schools had been open on all scheduled days.

scholarly journals Polygyny, Inequality, and Social Unrest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Krieger ◽  
Laura Renner
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Relative Position ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Third Dimension

This paper proposes three theoretical mechanisms through which polygyny may be related to social unrest. The mechanisms are related to different dimensions of grievance-inducing and, partly, greed-related inequality, which may occur in polygynous societies. These dimensions include (i) economic, reproductive and social inequality resulting in relative deprivation among non-elite men; (ii) inequality within elites when it comes to the distribution of resources and inheritance, both related to the relative position of dependent family members in a clan; and (iii) gender inequality in general. Using data for 41 African countries from 1990-2014, we provide evidence for these mechanisms and their relationship to social unrest. We find that the first and third dimension of inequality are especially correlated with social unrest. Furthermore, we consider several potential counterarguments but do not find support for them.

Changes in School Engagement as a Function of No Child Left Behind: A Comparative Interrupted Time Series Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna J. Markowitz
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Interrupted Time Series Analysis ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

After the adoption of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a host of anecdotal evidence suggested that NCLB diminished students’ school engagement—a multidimensional construct that describes students’ active involvement and commitment to school and encompasses students’ thoughts, behaviors, and feelings about school. Using data from repeated cross-sections of the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study draws on methodological innovations from research linking NCLB to academic outcomes to explore this possibility. Findings are suggestive of an immediate NCLB-based increase in engagement that diminished and ultimately became negative over time. Because engagement predicts both achievement and socio-emotional well-being, researchers and policymakers should work to ensure that the Every Student Succeeds Act facilitates accountability systems that promote engagement.

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