Welcome
This week, the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank located in D.C., released a new report on educational productivity. This study attempts to gauge the effectiveness of school district spending, that is, "bang for the buck."
Educational productivity rankings for all 115 North Carolina school districts are included in the Facts and Stats section below.
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CommenTerry
Center for American Progress (CAP) researchers published their first report on educational productivity three years ago. I discussed the 2011 CAP study and the concept of educational productivity several times, most recently here and here.
Educational productivity measures the relative return on investment (ROI) for schools and school districts. As Boser explains, it represents "how much academic achievement a district gets for each dollar spent relative to other districts in their state." To ensure an apples-to-apples comparison among districts, he adjusted the data to account for differences in cost-of-living, household income, English language proficiency, and special education services. Boser also calculated more sophisticated ROI measures, but those are not included in the chart below.
In addition to ROI, I included the primary input (spending) and output (student achievement) variables for each district. The "Achievement Index" represents the percentage of students who scored proficient or above on reading and math tests given to students in fourth-grade, eighth-grade, and high school during the 2010-11 school year. I also listed the 2010-11 average per pupil expenditures used in the study.
As legislators continue to hash out budget adjustments for the coming year, all stakeholders should be reminded that it is not how much we spend on public education. Rather, it is how we spend it that matters most.
Facts and Stats
Note: The lower the ROI score, the higher the productivity. For example, districts that scored a "1" had the highest achievement and lowest spending. Districts that earned a "6" had the lowest achievement and highest spending.
|
District |
Basic Return on Investment |
Achievement Index |
Per Pupil Expenditure |
|
Union County Public Schools |
1 |
86 |
$7,511 |
|
Davie County Schools |
1 |
85 |
$7,758 |
|
Mooresville City Schools |
1 |
84 |
$7,725 |
|
Surry County Schools |
1 |
84 |
$8,177 |
|
Burke County Schools |
1 |
83 |
$7,669 |
|
Davidson County Schools |
1 |
82 |
$6,975 |
|
Johnston County Schools |
1 |
82 |
$8,237 |
|
Lincoln County Schools |
1 |
82 |
$7,907 |
|
Pender County Schools |
1 |
81 |
$8,018 |
|
Stokes County Schools |
1 |
81 |
$8,551 |
|
Wake County Schools |
1 |
81 |
$7,714 |
|
Alexander County Schools |
1 |
80 |
$7,893 |
|
Iredell-Statesville Schools |
1 |
79 |
$7,509 |
|
Currituck County Schools |
2 |
86 |
$9,051 |
|
Elkin City Schools |
2 |
86 |
$8,557 |
|
Haywood County Schools |
2 |
83 |
$8,502 |
|
Henderson County Schools |
2 |
83 |
$8,199 |
|
Caldwell County Schools |
2 |
82 |
$7,917 |
|
Mount Airy City Schools |
2 |
82 |
$9,327 |
|
New Hanover County Schools |
2 |
81 |
$8,759 |
|
Catawba County Schools |
2 |
80 |
$7,868 |
|
Cleveland County Schools |
2 |
80 |
$8,705 |
|
Orange County Schools |
2 |
80 |
$9,781 |
|
Wilson County Schools |
2 |
80 |
$8,023 |
|
Cabarrus County Schools |
2 |
79 |
$7,463 |
|
Craven County Schools |
2 |
79 |
$7,719 |
|
Moore County Schools |
2 |
79 |
$8,036 |
|
Wilkes County Schools |
2 |
79 |
$7,955 |
|
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools |
2 |
77 |
$8,050 |
|
Person County Schools |
2 |
77 |
$8,613 |
|
Chatham County Schools |
2 |
76 |
$9,284 |
|
Franklin County Schools |
2 |
76 |
$7,880 |
|
Yadkin County Schools |
2 |
76 |
$8,057 |
|
Forsyth County Schools |
2 |
75 |
$8,604 |
|
Gaston County Schools |
2 |
75 |
$7,592 |
|
Guilford County Schools |
2 |
75 |
$8,684 |
|
Alamance-Burlington Schools |
2 |
74 |
$7,750 |
|
Randolph County Schools |
2 |
74 |
$7,714 |
|
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools |
3 |
90 |
$10,696 |
|
Polk County Schools |
3 |
89 |
$10,070 |
|
Camden County Schools |
3 |
88 |
$8,286 |
|
Watauga County Schools |
3 |
86 |
$9,111 |
|
Yancey County Schools |
3 |
86 |
$9,655 |
|
Carteret County Public Schools |
3 |
85 |
$8,632 |
|
Dare County Schools |
3 |
85 |
$10,806 |
|
Transylvania County Schools |
3 |
84 |
$9,484 |
|
Alleghany County Schools |
3 |
82 |
$10,697 |
|
Mitchell County Schools |
3 |
82 |
$10,701 |
|
Ashe County Schools |
3 |
81 |
$9,202 |
|
Cherokee County Schools |
3 |
81 |
$9,215 |
|
Clay County Schools |
3 |
80 |
$9,110 |
|
Brunswick County Schools |
3 |
79 |
$8,807 |
|
Buncombe County Schools |
3 |
79 |
$8,330 |
|
Madison County Schools |
3 |
78 |
$9,327 |
|
McDowell County Schools |
3 |
78 |
$8,158 |
|
Newton Conover City Schools |
3 |
78 |
$8,199 |
|
Onslow County Schools |
3 |
77 |
$7,778 |
|
Stanly County Schools |
3 |
77 |
$8,289 |
|
Whiteville City Schools |
3 |
77 |
$8,921 |
|
Clinton City Schools |
3 |
76 |
$8,400 |
|
Lee County Schools |
3 |
76 |
$8,427 |
|
Rutherford County Schools |
3 |
76 |
$9,073 |
|
Hickory City Schools |
3 |
75 |
$8,212 |
|
Sampson County Schools |
3 |
75 |
$8,278 |
|
Roanoke Rapids City Schools |
3 |
74 |
$8,477 |
|
Cumberland County Schools |
4 |
74 |
$8,168 |
|
Kannapolis City Schools |
4 |
73 |
$8,971 |
|
Hoke County Schools |
4 |
72 |
$8,129 |
|
Rockingham County Schools |
4 |
72 |
$8,248 |
|
Wayne County Public Schools |
4 |
71 |
$7,751 |
|
Asheboro City Schools |
4 |
70 |
$8,974 |
|
Lenoir County Public Schools |
4 |
69 |
$8,173 |
|
Pitt County Schools |
4 |
69 |
$8,251 |
|
Rowan-Salisbury Schools |
4 |
69 |
$8,351 |
|
Harnett County Schools |
4 |
67 |
$7,182 |
|
Richmond County Schools |
4 |
67 |
$8,418 |
|
Durham Public Schools |
4 |
64 |
$9,300 |
|
Robeson County Schools |
4 |
64 |
$8,861 |
|
Edgecombe County Schools |
4 |
59 |
$8,129 |
|
Avery County Schools |
5 |
78 |
$10,280 |
|
Graham County Schools |
5 |
78 |
$10,017 |
|
Asheville City Schools |
5 |
77 |
$12,131 |
|
Jackson County Schools |
5 |
77 |
$9,069 |
|
Macon County Schools |
5 |
77 |
$9,364 |
|
Jones County Schools |
5 |
76 |
$11,578 |
|
Gates County Schools |
5 |
75 |
$10,208 |
|
Martin County Schools |
5 |
75 |
$9,624 |
|
Swain County Schools |
5 |
75 |
$8,951 |
|
Perquimans County Schools |
5 |
74 |
$9,763 |
|
Scotland County Schools |
5 |
74 |
$10,413 |
|
Beaufort County Schools |
5 |
72 |
$9,016 |
|
Columbus County Schools |
5 |
72 |
$8,671 |
|
Duplin County Schools |
5 |
70 |
$8,529 |
|
Montgomery County Schools |
5 |
70 |
$8,779 |
|
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools |
5 |
70 |
$8,539 |
|
Granville County Schools |
5 |
69 |
$8,109 |
|
Lexington City Schools |
5 |
67 |
$10,154 |
|
Vance County Schools |
5 |
65 |
$9,059 |
|
Greene County Schools |
5 |
60 |
$9,744 |
|
Thomasville City Schools |
5 |
58 |
$9,795 |
|
Pamlico County Schools |
6 |
73 |
$10,460 |
|
Tyrrell County Schools |
6 |
72 |
$15,160 |
|
Caswell County Schools |
6 |
71 |
$9,279 |
|
Edenton/Chowan Schools |
6 |
71 |
$10,708 |
|
Hyde County Schools |
6 |
70 |
$18,435 |
|
Pasquotank County Schools |
6 |
69 |
$8,861 |
|
Bladen County Schools |
6 |
65 |
$9,288 |
|
Bertie County Schools |
6 |
64 |
$9,904 |
|
Warren County Schools |
6 |
64 |
$10,427 |
|
Northampton County Schools |
6 |
62 |
$10,728 |
|
Hertford County Schools |
6 |
61 |
$9,891 |
|
Weldon City Schools |
6 |
60 |
$12,185 |
|
Anson County Schools |
6 |
59 |
$9,796 |
|
Washington County Schools |
6 |
55 |
$10,971 |
|
Halifax County Schools |
6 |
41 |
$9,968 |
|
Source: Center for American Progress, "Return on Educational Investment: 2014; A District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity," July 2014 |
|||
Acronym of the Week
ROI — Return on Investment
Quote of the Week
"But as a nation, the United States cannot pretend that education dollars are endless, and we must address the issue of spending effectiveness."
– Ulrich Boser, "Return on Educational Investment: 2014; A District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity," Center for American Progress, July 9, 2014.
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