Education Policy Commons^™

Financing Higher Standards In Public Education: The Importance Of Accounting For Educational Costs, William Duncombe, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

Performance standards have been at the center of recent debates on educational reform. Many states have implemented new performance standards, often based on student test scores, and a district's state aid is sometimes linked to its success in meeting the standards. This focus on performance is designed primarily to promote better student achievement by holding schools accountable. However, a school's performance is influence not only by the actions of its administrators and teachers but also by factors outside its control, such as the nature of its student body. Thus, a focus on performance is inevitably unfair, especially to cities, unless …