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US study hopes to increase school efficiency
Source: Agencies |
January 20, 2011, Thursday
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AT a time when US school districts face tighter budgets, schools may be able to get better results if they increase productivity, according to a new study.
But achieving an increase in education efficiency may require spending less on administration and more on teaching.
The Return on Educational Investment study, conducted by the Center for American Progress, assesses around 9,000 school districts across the nation in terms of student achievement as seen on reading and math proficiency tests versus spending.
It also evaluates to what degree improving efficiency would increase student achievement.
"In education, we think about achievement on one side and spending on the other," said Ulrich Boser, the lead author of the study and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
"We need to start looking at them together."
Researchers did not make a list ranking the most efficient schools but instead created an online database that allows comparison of districts by each state, and some major metropolitan districts by national standards.
The study "highlights district variation (in efficiency)," said John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress. "So hopefully, people will start scratching their heads and try to figure out what's going on."
Boser stressed that the researchers are not suggesting districts should be spending less or reforms should be purely those like vouchers which add market-like elements to education.
"The goal should be how do we get more for what we spend," Boser said.
The year-long study used 2008 spending data from the school districts and achievement data from the New American Foundation for the same year to reach their findings, while factoring in differences such as cost of living and student poverty.
The study also showed the impact of social disparities. Poor students -- defined as those qualifying for extra subsidies in the federal school lunch program -- are 12 percent more likely to be in the country's least-productive districts. Minorities are twice as likely to be enrolled in a least-productive district.
Slouching property values have particularly hurt school districts because they often depend on property taxes for their income.
The decimation of local budgets has raised the question of budget reform and cutting, and education has been a primary target.
Many reforms and budget cuts have focused on teachers. But authors of the study hope that the research might expand the conversation to include all inefficient spending in districts, whether in teaching or administration or operations.
But achieving an increase in education efficiency may require spending less on administration and more on teaching.
The Return on Educational Investment study, conducted by the Center for American Progress, assesses around 9,000 school districts across the nation in terms of student achievement as seen on reading and math proficiency tests versus spending.
It also evaluates to what degree improving efficiency would increase student achievement.
"In education, we think about achievement on one side and spending on the other," said Ulrich Boser, the lead author of the study and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
"We need to start looking at them together."
Researchers did not make a list ranking the most efficient schools but instead created an online database that allows comparison of districts by each state, and some major metropolitan districts by national standards.
The study "highlights district variation (in efficiency)," said John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress. "So hopefully, people will start scratching their heads and try to figure out what's going on."
Boser stressed that the researchers are not suggesting districts should be spending less or reforms should be purely those like vouchers which add market-like elements to education.
"The goal should be how do we get more for what we spend," Boser said.
The year-long study used 2008 spending data from the school districts and achievement data from the New American Foundation for the same year to reach their findings, while factoring in differences such as cost of living and student poverty.
The study also showed the impact of social disparities. Poor students -- defined as those qualifying for extra subsidies in the federal school lunch program -- are 12 percent more likely to be in the country's least-productive districts. Minorities are twice as likely to be enrolled in a least-productive district.
Slouching property values have particularly hurt school districts because they often depend on property taxes for their income.
The decimation of local budgets has raised the question of budget reform and cutting, and education has been a primary target.
Many reforms and budget cuts have focused on teachers. But authors of the study hope that the research might expand the conversation to include all inefficient spending in districts, whether in teaching or administration or operations.
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