Meeting Expectations: Which School Investments Matter Most? A Case Study of Illinois Public Schools, 2002-2012

• In Event: 151 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 26. The Continuing Significance of Teacher and School Effects

Abstract

In the era of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), school performance outcomes are essential tools in ascertaining and stimulating educational reform. We examine the degree to which these standards have been met for a decade among 40,000 schools from 2002-2012 in Illinois. Illinois is an important case as the state improved performance despite an increasing percentage of high poverty schools. We find that within school investments (process factors) are largely explained by non-school or input factors. Even so, four key process factors are consistent: school enrollment, the student attendance rate, the average teacher salary as well as the average administrator salary. Findings encourage more state-level assessments of school performance over time and the simultaneous assessment of both process and input factors in educational research and evaluation.

Author

• Wesley Jeffrey, Brigham Young University