Archive
Public Education Finances: 2011
Public Education Finances: 2011 (PDF)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments and the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances as authorized by law under Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 161 and 182. The Census of Governments has been conducted every 5 years since 1957, while the annual survey has been conducted annually since 1977 in years when the Census of Governments is not conducted. The 2011 Annual Surveys of State and Local Governments Finances, similar to previous annual surveys and censuses of governments, covers the entire range of government finance activities—revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets (cash and security holdings).
This report contains financial statistics relating to public elementary-secondary education. It includes national and state financial aggregates and displays data for the largest 100 school systems by enrollment in the United States.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Diversity Management: Trends and Practices in the Financial Services Industry and Agencies after the Recent Financial Crisis. GAO-13-238, April 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-238
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653815.pdf
2. Medicare: Legislative Modifications Have Resulted In Payment Adjustments for Most Hospitals. GAO-13-334, April 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-334
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653854.pdf
3. Defense Management: Additional Information Needed to Improve Military Departments’ Strategies for Corrosion Prevention and Control. GAO-13-379, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-379
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654676.pdf
4. K-12 Education: States’ Test Security Policies and Procedures Varied. GAO-13-495R, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-495R
Testimonies
1. Elder Justice: Federal Government Has Taken Some Steps but Could Do More to Combat Elder Financial Exploitation, by Kay E. Brown, director, education, workforce, and income security, before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-626T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-626T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654664.pdf
2. Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Strategies for Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieving Cost Savings, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Senate Committee on the Budget. GAO-13-631T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-631T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654669.pdf
3. Oil and Gas Management: Continued Attention to Interior’s Revenue Collection and Human Capital Challenges Is Needed, by Frank Rusco, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care, and Entitlements, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-13-647T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-647T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654668.pdf
Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality
Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality (PDF)
Source: Economic Policy Institute
Top-down pressure from federal education policies such as Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind, bolstered by organized advocacy efforts, is making a popular set of market-oriented education “reforms” look more like the new status quo than real reform. Reformers assert that test-based teacher evaluation, increased access to charter schools, and the closure of “failing” and under-enrolled schools will boost at-risk students’ achievement and narrow longstanding race- and income-based achievement gaps. This new report from the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education examines these assertions by comparing the impacts of these reforms in three large urban school districts – Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago – with student and school outcomes over the same period in other large, high-poverty urban districts. The report finds that the reforms deliver few benefits, often harm the students they purport to help, and divert attention from a set of other, less visible policies with more promise to weaken the link between poverty and low educational attainment.
Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2009-10 (Fiscal Year 2010)
Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2009-10 (Fiscal Year 2010)
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
The report provides finance data for all local education agencies (LEAs) that provide free public elementary and secondary (PK-12) education in the United States. This report contains data on revenues and expenditures per pupil by school districts. Median per pupil revenue and expenditure data are reported by state. There are also discussions on the different types of school districts, and other resources that may be helpful in analyzing school district level data.
U.S. News — Best High Schools
Best High Schools
Source: U.S. News and World Report
We evaluated more than 21,000 public high schools in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals based on state proficiency standards and how well they prepare students for college.
The Nation’s Report Card: Economics 2012
The Nation’s Report Card: Economics 2012
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Key Findings
Economics scores increased for some lower performing student groups, even though the overall average score for twelfth-graders did not change significantly. Compared to 2006:
- Hispanic students scored higher, and a larger percentage performed at or above Basic.
- Students with parents who did not finish high school scored higher.
- Lower performing students made gains.
CRS — Reauthorizing the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000
Reauthorizing the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (PDF)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via National Agricultural Law Center)
Many counties are compensated for the tax-exempt status of federal lands. Counties with national forest lands and with certain Bureau of Land Management lands have historically received a percentage of agency revenues, primarily from timber sales. However, timber sales have declined substantially—by more than 90% in some areas. Thus, Congress enacted the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS; P.L. 106-393) as a temporary, optional program of payments based on historic, rather than current, revenues.
Authorization for SRS payments originally expired at the end of FY2006, but through several reauthorizations the program was extended through FY2012. Congressional debates over reauthorization considered the basis and level of compensation (historical, tax equivalency, etc.); the source of funds (receipts, a new tax or revenue source, etc.); the authorized and required uses of the payments; interaction with other compensation programs (notably Payments in Lieu of Taxes); and the duration of any changes (temporary or permanent). In addition, legislation with mandatory spending, such as SRS reauthorization, raises policy questions about increasing the deficit; current budget rules to restrain deficit spending typically impose a procedural barrier to such legislation, generally requiring offsets by additional receipts or reductions in other mandatory spending.
In 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (P.L. 110-343) enacted a four-year extension to SRS authorization through FY2011, with declining payments, a modified formula, and transition payments for certain areas. In 2012, Congress enacted a one-year extension through FY2012, and amended the program by slowing the decline in payment levels and tightening requirements that counties select a payment option promptly (P.L. 112-141).
With the expiration of SRS at the end of FY2012, county compensation is again the subject of congressional debates. County payments are set to return to a revenue-based system for FY2013, and are likely to be significantly lower than the previous years’ payments. Congress may consider extending SRS, with or without modifications, implementing other legislative proposals to address the county payments, or taking no action (thus continuing the revenue-based system that took effect upon the program’s expiration). To date, no legislative action has occurred in the 113th Congress. Discussion in the 113th Congress may focus on many of the same issues that were debated in 2006-2008 and again in 2012.
NRA — Report of the National School Shield Task Force
Report of the National School Shield Task Force (PDF)
Source: National Rifle Association
What more can we do as a nation to improve the safety of our children at school? This was the question raised by the National Rifle Association (NRA) after the Sandy Hook tragedy in which twenty young lives were taken along with the lives of six devoted school staff.
The posing of this question led to the assembly of a team of recognized experts in homeland security, law-enforcement training and school safety to conduct a survey of selected schools and their current security standards. This review has been conducted without any preconceived conclusions or mandate from the NRA except to determine what is needed to save young lives. The NRA has fully honored its commitment to respect the independence of this task force and to fund its work.
There are many experts in school safety. Some are self-proclaimed experts and others are nationally recognized leaders and innovators. The group of experts assembled for the National School Shield (NSS) Task Force is a selection of the most experienced and respected security experts; however, it is recognized that there are many others who have written, worked and contributed in the arena of school safety. While our report studied and reviewed the work of many in the field, our purpose was to bring together experts with different security backgrounds to provide a fresh perspective to the challenge of school violence. It is our hope that as the NSS continues into the future, the contribution and support for this initiative by school safety experts will expand.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Standards Needed to Improve Identification of Racial and Ethnic Overrepresentation in Special Education. GAO-13-137, February 27.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-137
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652436.pdf
2. California High-Speed Passenger Rail: Project Estimates Could Be Improved to Better Inform Future Decisions. GAO-13-304, March 28.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-304
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653402.pdf
3. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute: Review of the Audit of the Financial Statements for 2012 and 2011. GAO-13-390R, March 29.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-390R
Do School Districts Matter?
Source: Brookings Institution
School districts occupy center stage in education reform in the U.S. They manage nearly all public funding and are frequently the locus of federal and state reform initiatives, e.g., instituting meaningful teacher evaluation systems. The most charismatic leaders over the last decade, people such as Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein, have received considerable national media attention. Financial compensation for district leaders is high, with many being paid more than the chief state school officers who oversee the entire systems in which they serve. Some private philanthropies pour money into initiatives to improve district performance. Others invest in ways that suggest that they too think districts are important but as impediments to rather than instruments of reform.
Despite the centrality of school districts in all the ways described, we know very little from existing research about how important they are to student achievement relative to other institutional components for delivering education services, including teachers and schools. Neither do we have information on the size of the differences in effectiveness among districts or whether there are districts that show exceptional patterns of performance across time, e.g., moving from low to high performing.
We begin to fill these information gaps in the present report by analyzing 10 years of data involving all public school students and school districts in Florida and North Carolina. We find that school districts account for only a small portion (1% to 2%) of the total variation in student achievement relative to the contribution of schools, teachers, demographic characteristics of students, and remaining individual differences among students. Within just the institutional components affecting student achievement, the effect of schools is about twice that of districts whereas the effect of teachers is about seven times larger than that of districts.
Even though district effects are only a small piece of the pie that represents all the influences on student achievement, there are still differences among the academic achievement of demographically similar students in higher and lower performing districts in North Carolina and Florida that are large enough to be of practical and policy significance. Combining the data from both states, 4th and 5th grade students in a district that is at the 70th percentile in district effectiveness are more than 9 weeks ahead of similar students in a district at the 30th percentile of effectiveness in their learning of reading and math. There are also districts that have displayed exceptional patterns of performance in terms of student achievement over the last decade, including districts that beat their demographic odds every year, districts that consistently underperformed, districts that had nose-dive declines, and districts that experienced transformative growth. These findings provide an empirical justification for efforts to improve student achievement through district-level reforms and should be a tantalizing fruit for those who want to better understand why some districts are better than others and translate that knowledge into action.
2013 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
2013 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
Source: Brookings Institution
This is the twelfth edition of the Brown Center Report. The structure of the report remains the same from year to year. Part I examines the latest data from state, national, or international assessments. This year the focus is on the latest results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) released in December, 2012. The U.S. did relatively well, posting gains in reading, math, and science. Finland made headlines by registering declines from the last time it took the TIMSS math tests. At both fourth and eighth grades, the scores of Finland and the U.S. are now statistically indistinguishable in math. Part I also looks at the so-called “A+ countries,” named that because they were the top nations on the first TIMSS, given in 1995. Part I offers “A Progress Report on the A+ Countries,” and finds that, surprisingly, three of the six have registered statistically significant declines since 1995. Despite that, most of the A+ countries still score among the world’s leaders. The exception is the Czech Republic, which scored at approximately the international average the last time it took TIMSS in 2007.
Part II explores a perennial theme in education studies—the topics that never seem to go away in terms of research and debate. This year it’s on the controversial topics of tracking and ability grouping. An analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) documents a resurgence of ability grouping in fourth grade reading and mathematics. Tracking remains persistent in eighth-grade math, with about three-fourths of students in tracked classes. As readers are surely aware, both practices have been attacked for decades as inequitable, and many school analysts thought their use had diminished. Ability grouping was dominant for a long time in the elementary grades. Reading groups were the norm through most of the twentieth century and then declined dramatically in the 1990s. They are now coming back—and back strongly.
Part III is on a prominent policy or program. This year’s analysis is on the national push for eighth graders to take algebra and other high school math courses. Algebra is now the single most popular math course in eighth grade. The study in Part III uses state variation in enrollment rates to ask the question: what has happened to the NAEP scores of states that boosted their eighth-grade advanced-math enrollments? The study uncovers no relationship between change in state NAEP scores and change in enrollments. States boosting advanced math taking are no more likely to show NAEP gains than other states.
A second analysis uncovers some evidence consistent with the idea that advanced math courses are being “watered down,” that the mean achievement levels of advanced courses fall as enrollments go up. Again, change in NAEP score is the outcome of interest. The study shows that states that are more selective in math placements—not aggressively accelerating eighth graders into advanced courses—are more likely to show achievement gains in those courses.
The Decline in Private School Enrollment
The Decline in Private School Enrollment (PDF)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Private schools represent a significant part of the education sector and provide an opportunity for children to attend schools, at cost, that may offer benefits unavailable in the public school system. Parents might choose to send their children to private schools for a variety of reasons, including the availability of academic programs and extracurricular activities, religious reasons, dissatisfaction with the local public schools, and school characteristics such as class size and student-teacher ratios.
Over the last decade, government statistics seem to show that private school enrollment has declined. Although the trend has been noted (Aud et al., 2011), the phenomenon has not been examined in detail. Since private schools represent a sizable portion of the education sector, a decline in enrollment would warrant attention. Specifically, is the decline the result of a particular data collection system associated with a specific survey, or a real trend? Does the trend hold for various socio-demographic subgroups? If so, what are potential underlying causes? This paper seeks to provide relevant background information on the topic by comparing trends across datasets and subgroups and exploring possible underlying causes of the decline in private school enrollment.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS
FEMA Has Made Progress in Improving Grant Management and Assessing Capabilities, but Challenges Remain
GAO-13-456T, Mar 19, 2013
PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES
Shortcomings in Oversight and Implementation of Key Parts of the Secure Rural Schools Act May Be Addressed by Recent Agency Guidance
GAO-13-475T, Mar 19, 2013
2013 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
2013 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
Source: Brookings Institution
This is the twelfth edition of the Brown Center Report. The structure of the report remains the same from year to year. Part I examines the latest data from state, national, or international assessments. This year the focus is on the latest results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) released in December, 2012. The U.S. did relatively well, posting gains in reading, math, and science. Finland made headlines by registering declines from the last time it took the TIMSS math tests. At both fourth and eighth grades, the scores of Finland and the U.S. are now statistically indistinguishable in math. Part I also looks at the so-called “A+ countries,” named that because they were the top nations on the first TIMSS, given in 1995. Part I offers “A Progress Report on the A+ Countries,” and finds that, surprisingly, three of the six have registered statistically significant declines since 1995. Despite that, most of the A+ countries still score among the world’s leaders. The exception is the Czech Republic, which scored at approximately the international average the last time it took TIMSS in 2007.
Part II explores a perennial theme in education studies—the topics that never seem to go away in terms of research and debate. This year it’s on the controversial topics of tracking and ability grouping. An analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) documents a resurgence of ability grouping in fourth grade reading and mathematics. Tracking remains persistent in eighth-grade math, with about three-fourths of students in tracked classes. As readers are surely aware, both practices have been attacked for decades as inequitable, and many school analysts thought their use had diminished. Ability grouping was dominant for a long time in the elementary grades. Reading groups were the norm through most of the twentieth century and then declined dramatically in the 1990s. They are now coming back—and back strongly.
Part III is on a prominent policy or program. This year’s analysis is on the national push for eighth graders to take algebra and other high school math courses. Algebra is now the single most popular math course in eighth grade. The study in Part III uses state variation in enrollment rates to ask the question: what has happened to the NAEP scores of states that boosted their eighth-grade advanced-math enrollments? The study uncovers no relationship between change in state NAEP scores and change in enrollments. States boosting advanced math taking are no more likely to show NAEP gains than other states.
A second analysis uncovers some evidence consistent with the idea that advanced math courses are being “watered down,” that the mean achievement levels of advanced courses fall as enrollments go up. Again, change in NAEP score is the outcome of interest. The study shows that states that are more selective in math placements—not aggressively accelerating eighth graders into advanced courses—are more likely to show achievement gains in those courses.
Dual enrollment programs: a comparative study of high school students’ college academic achievement at differe nt settings
Source: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (Flores)
The ex post facto causal-comparative study examined the academic achievement of high school students who took their dual credit English or mathematics college credit-bearing course in two different environments, namely, the college setting and the high school setting. Due to non-experimental nature of the study, no causal inferences were drawn. The non-probability sample consisted of 428 students who had taken the English dual credit course of which 342 were off-campus and 86 had taken the course on campus. There were 82 students who had taken the mathematics dual credit course of which 25 were off-campus students and 57 had taken the course on campus. The English and mathematics achievement grades were treated as ordinal data and Mann-Whitney U test showed that group differences on the basis of outcome measures were not statistically significant. The results suggest that when each setting adheres to the rigor of dual credit program standards, academic quality is maintained, academic achievement is comparable between students in the two settings, and college level learning is achieved.
Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education
Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education
Source: Horizon Research
The Report of 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education details the results of a survey of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United States. Areas addressed include: teacher backgrounds and beliefs, teachers as professionals, science and mathematics courses, instructional objectives and activities, instructional resources, and factors affecting instruction.
Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2010-11
Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2010-11
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
This report provides national estimates about dual credit courses at public high schools. The estimates presented in this report are based on a school survey about dual credit courses offered by high schools during the 2010-11 school year.
2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook: Improving Teacher Preparation
2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook: Improving Teacher Preparation
Source: National Council on Teacher Quality
From executive summary (PDF)
There is a tremendous focus across the states these days on building a better teacher workforce. The National Council on Teacher Quality’s 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook chronicled the great progress states are making on adopting new teacher evaluation systems that factor student performance and classroom effectiveness into decisions about compensation, professional development, tenure and dismissal – all in the name of teacher effectiveness.
One of the strange ironies of education reformers’ attention to teacher effectiveness, however, has been the relative lack of attention to how teacher candidates are prepared to be effective in the job in the first place.
In this 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook, NCTQ explores the question: What are states doing to ensure that they are systematically preparing classroom-ready new teachers?
How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms
How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project
A survey of teachers who instruct American middle and secondary school students finds that digital technologies have become central to their teaching and professionalization. At the same time, the internet, mobile phones, and social media have brought new challenges to teachers, and they report striking differences in access to the latest digital technologies between lower and higher income students and school districts.
Asked about the impact of the internet and digital tools in their role as middle and high school educators, these teachers say the following about the overall impact on their teaching and their classroom work:
- 92% of these teachers say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to access content, resources, and materials for their teaching
- 69% say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to share ideas with other teachers
- 67% say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to interact with parents and 57% say it has had such an impact on enabling their interaction with students
The survey finds that digital tools are widely used in classrooms and assignments, and a majority of these teachers are satisfied with the support and resources they receive from their school in this area. However, it also indicates that teachers of the lowest income students face more challenges in bringing these tools to their classrooms…
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Challenges for School Leadership
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Challenges for School Leadership (PDF)
Source: MetLife
Major Findings
- Principals take responsibility for leadership of their schools.
- The job of principal is becoming more complex and stressful.
- Teachers take leadership in schools and think principals are doing a good job.
- The biggest challenges leaders face are beyond the capacity of schools alone to address.
- Principals and teachers have similar views on academic challenges, but diverge somewhat on their priorities for leadership.
- Teacher satisfaction continues to decline.
- Challenges cited by educators are greater in high-needs schools.
- Educators are confident about implementing the Common Core, less so about its potential for increasing student success.
