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Schools in the United States are among the most inequitably funded of any in the industrialized world. These inequities in funding—which impact everything from class sizes to course offerings to teaching quality—create dramatic disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes for children. Students from low-income families and students of color experience the greatest disparities.
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This brief is based on a report reviewing research on the role of money in determining school quality. The research found that schooling resources that cost money are positively associated with student outcomes. In addition to summarizing the report, the brief offers these policy recommendations: Ensure school finance reforms are linked to thoughtful standards and supports for students and teachers, invest more in students who have greater needs, and invest in human resources.
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Fifty years after the Kerner Commission warned of a nation divided, school funding remains profoundly unfair and inequitable in most states, shortchanging students across the country, writes David Sciarra, Executive Director of the Education Law Center in this installment of the blog series, Education and the Path to Equity. Those most disadvantaged by this enduring failure are millions of children from low-income families and children of color, especially those in high-poverty, racially isolated communities.
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Like the movie “Groundhog Day,” the President’s 2018 education budget proposal feels like déjà vu all over again. Last year, we published a blog post that addressed the President’s proposed cuts to the Every Student Succeeds Act. Fortunately, the Congress that developed the Act and passed it in a strongly bipartisan vote in 2015 protected its key features. This year, in the President’s new budget proposal, however, those cuts are back.
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This study of California’s recent major school finance reform, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), is among the first to provide evidence of LCFF’s impacts on student outcomes. We found that LCFF-induced increases in school spending led to significant increases in high school graduation rates and academic achievement, particularly among children from low-income families. The evidence suggests that money targeted to students’ needs can make a significant difference in student outcomes and can narrow achievement gaps.
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A new study shows that investments in schools based on the Local Control Funding Formula improve achievement and attainment, reduce racial and economic disparities in graduation rates. By examining high school graduation rates, and student achievement by grade and subject (mathematics and reading) in the years before and after the implementation of LCFF for all public schools in California, the authors found significant increases in all of these areas that track the implementation of LCFF. They also found that students who received higher “dosages” of LCFF (that is, attend school in highest-poverty districts, which receive greater funding under the formula) showed greater academic gains.
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For decades, some politicians and pundits have argued that “money does not make a difference” for school outcomes. While it is certainly possible to spend money poorly, this viewpoint is strongly contradicted by a large body of evidence from rigorous empirical research. This document presents a brief explanation of the goal of school finance reforms, followed by summaries of the main bodies of evidence that illustrate how equitable and adequate school funding improves student outcomes.
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High teacher turnover—or churn—undermines student achievement and consumes valuable staff time and resources. It also contributes to teacher shortages throughout the country, as roughly 6 of 10 new teachers hired each year are replacing colleagues who left the classroom before retirement. This tool is designed to help policymakers and stakeholders estimate the cost of teacher turnover in a school or district and to inform a local conversation about how to attract, support, and retain a high-quality teacher workforce.
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High teacher turnover is costly for schools and districts and can undermine efforts to improve academic opportunities and outcomes. This blog post outlines the causes and impact of turnover and speaks to the need for schools and districts to understand their local costs and begin a conversation about how to improve retention and build a strong and stable teacher workforce.
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Principals are essential to improving student achievement and narrowing persistent achievement gaps. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to use federal funds to invest in developing and supporting effective school leaders, such as supporting their recruitment, preparation, and training using the optional state set-aside under Title II. This brief summarizes the evidence about the importance of principals, describes research-based practices in leadership development, and outlines promising, evidence-based investments from submitted and draft ESSA state plans.
