| Title: | Exploring district-level expenditure-to-performance ratios |
| Description: | Districts across the nation are seeking ways to increase efficiency by maintaining, if not improving, educational outcomes using fewer resources. One proxy for school district efficiency is an expenditure-to-performance ratio, for example a ratio of per pupil expenditures to student academic performance. Using state education department data from an example state in the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands Region, researchers created six different expenditure-to-performance ratios and investigated how districts' inclusion in the highest quartile on districts rankings varied according to the expenditure and performance measures used to calculate each ratio. By demonstrating the variability in district rankings depending on the ratio being examined, this guide provides states and districts with evidence to suggest that state policymakers should carefully consider the examination of expenditure and performance measures that are most relevant to their questions of interest when investigating district efficiency. |
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| Cover Date: | March 2017 |
| Web Release: | March 22, 2017 |
| Print Release: | March 22, 2017 |
| Publication #: | REL 2017267 General Ordering Information |
| Center/Program: | REL |
| Associated Centers: | NCEE |
| Authors: | Heather J. Lavigne, Sarah Ryan, Jacqueline S. Zweig, and Pamela J. Buffington: Education Development Center, Inc. |
| Type of Product: | Applied Research Methods |
| Keywords: | |
| Questions: |
For questions about the content of this Applied Research Methods, please contact: Amy Johnson. |