EfficiencyChapter 14 in Guthrie

Dr. Len Elovitz

• “Where we spend our educational dollars does make a difference in accomplishing our educational goals.”

• Owings and Kaplan

ISLLC Standard 3

• A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring the management of the organization, operations and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment

Coleman Study - 1966

• Authorized by Civil Rights Act of 1964• How much student learning and achievement

(outputs) would result from a given number of resources (inputs).

• Inputs mattered little when compared to SES of parents

Other Studies

• Some found positive correlations between school spending and student outcomes

• Verstegan found a very strong relationship between school spending and adult earnings

E.A. Hanushek

• Meta-analysis of existing studies• Found that the relationship between school

spending and student achievement was not strong or consistent

William Bennett

• Secretary of Education 1985-1988• School spending was unrelated to student

achievement based on SAT scores• Found highest scores in low spending states –

i.e. IA, ND, SD, UT• Midwestern States use the ACT only students

applying to very competitive Eastern Colleges take the SAT

Hedges et. al.

• Reevaluated Hanushek’s data and concluded that “… money does matter after all.”

• Other studies using different controls found a positive relationship

• VaTech study found significant increases in student achievement with increased instructional expenditures

• Verstegan found that overall school spending was responsible for about 1/3 the variance in achievement scores

• Greatest achievement growth found when increased spending went directly to the delivery of quality instruction

Teacher Quality

• Current research indicates that the quality of Teachers and teaching are the greatest determinants of student success

Darling-Hammond

• Formal Teacher preparation accounts for 40-60% of the variance in student achievement when controlling for demographics

• She identified the following quality factors related to increased achievement:

Quality factors

• Verbal ability• Content Knowledge• Education methods coursework related to

their discipline• Licensing exam scores of basic skills and

teaching knowledge• Skillful teacher behaviors

• Ongoing Professional development• Enthusiasm for learning• Flexibility, creativity and adaptability• Teaching experience (only 3 yrs)• Higher order questioning

Texas Study

• Students with effective teachers for 3 years reading scores went from 59th to 76th percentile

• Students with ineffective teachers for 3 yrs. Dropped from the 60th to 42nd percentile

Tenn. Value Added Study

• Groups started out the same in 4th grade Math• Group with effective teachers for 3 yrs - 83rd

percentile• Group with ineffective teachers for 3 yrs – 29th

percentile

NAEP Studies

• Effective teachers make a difference in minority student achievement

• Students of teachers who majored or minored in what they taught outperformed their peers by approximately 40% in math and science

Implications for finance

• Recruit and hire the most effective teachers (have qualities listed above)

• Retain the best teachers• Improve the marginal teachers• Get rid of poor teachers

Professional Development

• NAEP studies – PD in the following leads to increased achievement in Math:– Cultural diversity– Teaching techniques for LEL students– Teaching techniques for special education

students

Other Benefits

• Develop constructs around a common language – ITIP experience and the academy

• Teachers gain confidence about their teaching skills

• Reflect on their own practice• Seek out collegial and professional advice

• Teachers are more apt to adopt new instructional practices if PD is sustained over time and related to the district curriculum - IPS experience – Science in Roxbury

• Motivational Speakers• Pigeons• Smorgasbord

Evaluating PD

• Kirkpatrick – the 5 levels

• Does it result increased student achievement

Reduced class size

• All else being equal, smaller class size allows teachers to give more individual attention

• California legislature appropriated $1 billon in 1996-97 to lower K-3 class size in K-3 from 30-20 (increased teacher need 38% and resulted in a decline in quality)

• New York did the same• In 1999, President Clinton’s budget included $12

billion to decrease K-3 class size

Does the cost of reducing class size produce enough achievement to justify the cost or are there other more cost-effective methods?

• Tenn. Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR)– Over 12,000 primary grade students – Homogeneous

population– Over 4 years – Highly controlled– Attending smaller K-3 classes for 3 yrs. Resulted in

significant gains in all subjects through grade 8– Greatest effect was on Minority and urban students

Other studies

• A synthesis of over 100 studies suggests that the most positive results for lower class size appear in K-3.

• Several studies show diminished gains in the later years

• Reduced class size has less of an effect than other less expensive interventions.

• Of 27 alterable variable, class size ranked 25 as a means of increasing student achievement

• Overall reducing class size without increasing teacher quality appears to be both expensive and ineffective

• What should your class size policy be?• Roxbury – K-3 = 19, 4-6 = 22, 7-12 = 24 all

were +or – 4• Oucchi TSL

School Size

• Smaller schools have shown favorable results• Can be very expensive• Smaller groupings of students– Teaming– School within a school– Smaller Learning Communities

• Barker & Gump - a school should be of a size where all students are necessary for its enterprises

Teacher Salaries

• It makes sense that increasing teachers salaries will improve the quality of the teacher pool, but can the districts choose the best from the pool?

• No relationship has been found between teacher salaries and student achievement.

• Merit Pay - “… never dies and never works.”

School Facilities

• Good facilities appear to have a positive effect on teacher effectiveness and student achievement.

• Earthman found a 5 to 15 percentile point difference in standardized test scores for students in well maintained buildings with comfortable room temperatures, good lighting, low noise levels, sufficient space and good roofs.

• Student achievement in newer buildings appears to be better than older.

Conclusion

• Hire and keep high quality teachers• Provide meaningful professional development• Decrease the teacher-student ratio in the

primary grades• Reduce the TLC• Maintain comfortable and safe buildings