Education Commons^™

Efficiency Of Fiscal Expenditures In Nevada Elementary Schools Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Todd Patrick Yocum

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades educational researchers have attempted to find links between school funding and student achievement. These attempts have generated many contradictory viewpoints and have produced many unanswered questions. Ever increasing accountability on states, districts and schools combined with severe financial strain has made measuring school fiscal efficiency a valuable tool for school leaders looking to get more student achievement with fewer resources.

The methodology for this study was comprised of two phases. Phase I analyzed the per pupil expenditures of Nevada elementary schools over a three-year period and developed descriptive statistics that revealed the expenditure patterns by category. Phase II …

Sensitivity Of Value Added School Effect Estimates To Different Model Specifications And Outcome Measures, Bryce L. Pride

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Model has been used to make many high-stakes decisions concerning schools, though it does not provide a complete assessment of student academic achievement and school effectiveness. To provide a clearer perspective, many states have implemented various Growth and Value Added Models, in addition to AYP. The purpose of this study was to examine two Value Added Model specifications, the Gain Score Model and the Layered Effects Model, to understand similarities and differences in school effect results. Specifically, this study correlated value added school effect estimates, which were derived from two model specifications and two outcome …