A new study, the North Carolina High School Resource Allocation Study, yielded some interesting findings, including:
1. After controlling for student characteristics and teacher quality, “the effect of total per pupil expenditures on student performance is very small. … For example, a $500 increase in total per pupil expenditures in a school would probably lead to only 6/100ths of a point increase in average EOC scores in the school.”*
2. On the other hand, “the amount that high schools spend on regular classroom instruction does have a sizable impact on student learning outcomes.”*
3. Furthermore, “higher levels of expenditures on supplementary instruction (outside the normal school day and week) and student services (guidance, psychological, health, speech, and related services) are actually associated with lower student test scores.”*
4. The percentage of teachers with advanced degrees and National Board Certification teachers had no effect on average EOC scores.
It should come as no surprise that expenditures on classroom instruction, teacher quality (particularly experience and college attended), and school leadership make a substantial difference in student learning outcomes. The concentrations of lower-skilled students within a high school also makes a difference.
(*Emphasis mine.)
