Study of equity in a state public school finance system prior to and after implementing performance-based funding PDF
Preview Study of equity in a state public school finance system prior to and after implementing performance-based funding
ASTUDYOFEQUITYINASTATEPUBLICSCHOOLFINANCE SYSTEMPRIORTOANDAFTERIMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE-BASEDFUNDING By SANDRAL.JONES ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOLOFTHE UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thisresearchprojectcouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutthesupport,advice, encouragement,andassistanceofmanypeople. Iamgratefulforfamily,friends, colleagues,andmembersofmydoctoralsupervisorycommittee. First,Iamgreatlyindebtedtomycommitteethathadawiderangeoftalentsand expertise. IthankDr.DavidHoneymanforchairingmycommitteeandguidingme throughtheprocess,Dr.JamesDoudforhisservantleadershipandinvaluable encouragement,Dr.CraigWoodforhiswisdomofeducationalfinanceandlawinan interestingway,andDr.DavidMillerformakingdifficultstatisticalmethodology understandable. IamalsogratefulfortheadviceandencouragementfromDr.Rhodella Brown,Dr.MaryElizabethGrace-Calhoun,Dr.KatherineGratto,andDr.JasonStorch. AngelaRoweprovidedconstantsupportthatwascrucialtomysuccessasadoctoral student. Iwouldliketothankmyfamilyforbeingcontinualremindersoftheimportance offamilyinanyendeavor.Thisincludesmybrothers,AlfredLangstonandCharles Langston,andtheirfamilies. Whileourfatherwastakenfromusearly,hehasalways beenasourceofinspiration. Especially,Iwanttothankmymother,ChristineLangston Albritton,forsettingtheexampleasaloving,independent,andencouraginglady. Ithank mystep-dad,Irvin,foralwaysmakinghimselfavailabletohelp.Ilovinglythankmyson, ChristopherSean,forhisfaith,beingthere,andthedailysupportivecaringcalls throughoutmydoctoralprogram. ii Aheartfeltthankyougoestomydearfriends,CarolandBettyJo. Iamgrateful tothesekindredspiritsfortheirunwaveringfriendshipthroughtheyearsandfortheir supportthroughthiseducationaljourneyandthroughourlifejourney. Finally,Icouldnothaveevenbegunthisendeavorwithoutmywonderfully supportivehusband,Tom. Hehasbeenasourceoflove,loyalty,confidence,and motivationthroughoutour26yearsofmarriage. Hegavemethestrengthtocontinueto striveformygoalsanddreams. Ithankhimforhavingfaithinme. iii TABLEOFCONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUNDOFTHESTUDY 1 Introduction 1 BackgroundtotheProblem 4 StatementoftheProblem 15 PurposeoftheStudy 16 ResearchQuestions 17 SignificanceoftheStudy 17 LimitationsoftheStudy 20 OverviewofMethodology 21 DefinitionofTerms 22 OrganizationoftheStudy byChapters 23 2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 24 Introduction 24 ConceptofEquityinPublicSchools 24 EarlyEducationFinanceTheory 26 EducationandBenefitstoSociety 29 PrinciplesofEquity 32 StatisticalMeasuresforHorizontalEquity 36 SchoolFinanceEquityLitigation 43 TheFloridaFormula 69 Performance-BasedFunding 82 Bush/BroganA+PlanforEducation 107 Summary Ill 3 RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY 114 Introduction 114 PopulationoftheStudy 115 iv Methodology 116 MeasuresofEquity 117 Summary 125 4 ANALYSISOFDATA 127 Introduction 127 EquityBeforeandAftertheImplementationofPerformance-Based Funding 128 InterpretationofResults 143 Summary 147 5 CONCLUSIONS 149 Introduction 149 Findings 154 Conclusions 158 ImplicationsforPublicPoHcymakers 159 FutureStudies 161 REFERENCES 165 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 176 V AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy ASTUDYOFEQUITYINASTATEPUBLICSCHOOLFINANCE SYSTEMPRIORTOANDAFTERIMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE-BASEDFUNDING By SandraL.Jones December2003 Chair: DavidS.Honeyman MajorDepartment:EducationalLeadership,Policy,andFoundations Thepurposeofthisquantitativestudywastodeterminetheeffectsofadditional revenuesforperformanceontheequityofastateschoolfinancesystem. Theresearch includedananalysisoftheequityofthe1997-1998,1999-2000,and2000-2001Florida EducationFinanceProgram(FEFP)withandwithouttheapplicationofperformance- basedfundingofrewarddollarsfromtheFloridaA+PlanandSchoolRecognition Program. TheFEFPincludedrevenuefromstateandlocalsources. Usingstatisticalmeasurementsthatweredevelopedforpublicschoolequity studies,thedegreeofhorizontalequityonrevenueperweightedfull-timeequivalent student(WFTE)wasanalyzedforthe67publicschooldistrictspriortoandfollowingthe implementationofperformance-basedfunding. Theresultsofthestudyindicatedthat additionalrevenuesofperformance-basedfundinghadslightlydisequalizingeffects withintheyearsofthestudy. Theresultswereindicatedbyresourceaccessibility vi measures,includingtherange,restrictedrange,federalrangeratio,variance,andthe standarddeviation.Thecoefficientofvariationindicatedadecreasedequityinthelast yearofthestudy,asperformance-basedfundingwasapplied. Calculationsofthe McLooneIndexindicateddecreasedequity,whiletheGinicoefficientindicateda negligibleincreaseinequityduetotheadditionalrevenuesfromperformance-based fundingwithintheyearofthestudy. Bothindicatedthattheadditionalrevenueshad slighttonegligibleeffectsonequityandwealthneutralitywithinthoseyears.Some valuesincreasedduringtheyearsofthestudywithandwithouttheawarddollarssoit carmotbedeterminedthatthedecreaseinequitywasduesolelytoperformance-based funding. Forallofthemeasuresanalyzed,thedecreaseinequity,ortheslightshifttoward disequalization,wasmostevidentwhentherevenuesfromperformance-basedfunding wereappliedwithintheyearsofthestudy. vii CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUNDOFTHESTUDY Introduction Publicschoolfinancehasbeenandcontinuestobeaprioritypolicyissueand challengeatthestate,local,andnationallevel. Asof2003,thebigbusinessoffinancing publicschoolsintheUnitedStatesinvolvedover$379billion;59millionchildren;and almost5millionteachers,administrators,andstaff(Odden&Picus,2000,inpress). Equityandadequacycontinuedtobeissuesin2003,andtheproductivityoftheuseofthe inputeducationdollarsandadequacyofthosedollarswerealsoattheforefrontofthe schoolfinancepolicydiscussionsandarguments(Odden&Picus,2000). Theeducation ofthechildrenofthiscountrywouldhavebeennegativelyimpactediftheimportanceof adequateandequitableresourceswasneglected(Adams,1997;Fuhrman&O'Day,1996; Ladd,1996a;Picus&Wattenbarger,1996;Thompson,Wood,&Honeyman,1994). Thequestiontomanystatelegislatorsandpolicymakerswashowtoallocateand distributethestatefiindswithamethodthatwasbothadequateandequitabletothe differentschooldistrictsandtheirschools(Brown,1999;Odden&Picus,2000). Asthe 1990sended,publicschoolpolicymakersmoreandmorewantedtoknowhowmuchbase spendingwasnecessarytoeducatepublicschoolstudentstohighstatestandards. With thischangetoconcernregardinghighperformancestandardsforstudents,litigation seemedtobroadenitsconcernfromjustequitytoissuesofadequacyandproductivity (Odden&Picus,2000,inpress). 1 2 Asof2003,statefinancingstructuresandschooldistrictsneededtorenovateor rethinkthestatepubHcschoolfinancesystemstoaccomplishthenewer,more challengingproductivitystandardsandexpectationstodemonstrateaccountability (Odden&Picus,2000,inpress). Ongoingconcernsaboutpubliceducationcontinued withever-increasingcostsforeducationalservicesandgrowingdissatisfactionwiththe performanceofthestudentsinthepublicschoolsystems. Taxpayerscontinuedtobelieve that,whiletherewereeducationalbenefitsofpubliceducationtosociety,theschool systemswerealsoresponsibleforheavytaxburdens. Whilepubliceducationhad providedforrealsocietalandeconomicdevelopment,theconcernsaboutfiscalequity andtheallocationofstate-appropriatedresourceswerestillbeingconsidered,discussed, andresearched(Chambers,1996;Fuhrman«&O'Day,1996;Ladd,1996a;Picus& Wattenbarger,1996;Thompsonetal.,1994). ThecornerstoneoftheGoals2000andElementaryandSecondaryAct(ESEA) programs,promotedbytheClintonadministration,wastheapproachofsystemicreform (Rotherman,1999). Morethan45statesassertedthattheywereengagedinsettingnew andchallengingstandardsfortheeducationofAmericanstudents,withappropriate policiesbeingimplementedaroundthenewstandards. Assessmentsthatwerelinkedto thestandardshelpedgiveaclearpictureofexpectationstostudents,offered informationalfeedbacktoteachersandprovidedanopportunityforvalidaccountability basedonimprovementsintheschoolsanddistrictsthatwereworkingtowardspecific outcomeexpectations. Theinterestinperformance-basedreformwasareflectionofthe generalpreoccupationwithmanagerialefficiencyandthebestwaystoutilizeeducational 3 resourcestogetmoreeducationaloutputforthefundinginputs(Fuhrman&O'Day, 1996). Educationalpolicymakersinmanystatesexploredthepossibilityofallocatinga portionofstateeducationfundstoschoolsasmonetaryrewardsforimprovementsin studenttestscoresandotherperformanceindicators(Fuhrman&O'Day,1996;Ladd, 1996a;Picus&Wattenbarger,1996).Thisapproachofperformance-basedbudgeting (PBB),performance-basedschoolfunding(PBSF),orperformance-basedfunding(PBF) allowedfortheallotmentofaportionoftheeducationdollarstoschoolsordistrictsthat demonstratedparticularstandardsofstudentachievement. Therewardswereoutsideof thestatefundsthatwerepartoftheschoolfinanceequalizationprogramsandwere relativelysmallamounts(King&Mathers,1996,1997). "Theneweducationalaccountability"wasthenewmodelofstateandlocalschool governance. Therewerethreemajorpartsofthisnewmodelorapproach:"Aprimary emphasisonmeasuredstudentperformanceasthebasisforschoolaccountability;...the creationofrelativelycomplexsystemsofstandardsbywhichdataonstudent performancearecomparedbyschoolandbylocality;andthecreationofsystemsof rewardsandpenaltiesandinterventionstrategiestointroduceincentivesfor improvement"(Elmore,Abelmann,&,Fuhrman,1996,p.65). Thefuturefiindingforourcountry'sschoolswasaffectedbytheemphasison equityandadequacy,thedevelopmentofandrequirementstomeetmorerigorous educationalstandards,andmoreefficientandeffectiveresourceallocationandutilization toproducehigherandenhancedstudentachievement. Allofthiswasinasettingof expandedsite-basedmanagementandbudgetingandchangingteachercompensation.
The list of books you might like
