IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v31y2003i3p263-290.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Let No Child Be Left Behind: Determining the Cost of Improving Student Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Reschovsky
  • Jennifer Imazeki

Abstract

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and recent legislation in a number of states have raised the standards for accountability in schools, with the objective of closing achievement gaps and increasing student performance overall. These new education policies, however, rarely address the way in which schools are financed. They ignore the fact that characteristics of schools and students require that some schools spend more than others to achieve any given student performance standard. To determine the characteristics that lead to variations in the costs of achieving a specified improvement in student performance, the authors estimate an educational cost function using data from elementary and secondary school districts in Texas. Results indicate that cost differences across districts can be quite large. The cost function results are summarized into a cost index that can then be used in a simple formula to guarantee that every district has sufficient fiscal resources to achieve state-imposed performance goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Reschovsky & Jennifer Imazeki, 2003. "Let No Child Be Left Behind: Determining the Cost of Improving Student Performance," Public Finance Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 263-290, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:31:y:2003:i:3:p:263-290
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142103031003003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142103031003003
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142103031003003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanushek, Eric A & Rivkin, Steven G & Taylor, Lori L, 1996. "Aggregation and the Estimated Effects of School Resources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(4), pages 611-627, November.
    2. Deller, Steven C. & Rudnicki, Edward, 1993. "Production efficiency in elementary education: The case of Maine public schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 45-57, March.
    3. Murnane, Richard J. & Levy, Frank, 2001. "Will Standards-Based Reforms Improve the Education of Students of Color?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(2), pages 401-416, June.
    4. Ladd, Helen F. & Yinger, John, 1994. "The Case for Equalizing Aid," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(1), pages 211-224, March.
    5. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2000. "Financing higher student performance standards: the case of New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 363-386, October.
    6. Hanushek, Eric A. & Kain, John F. & Rivkin, Steven G., 2004. "Disruption versus Tiebout improvement: the costs and benefits of switching schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1721-1746, August.
    7. Murnane, Richard J. & Levy, Frank, 2001. "Will Standards-Based Reforms Improve the Education of Students of Color?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 54(n. 2), pages 401-16, June.
    8. Ladd, Helen F. & Yinger, John, 1994. "The Case for Equalizing Aid," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(1), pages 211-24, March.
    9. Ruggiero, John, 1996. "Efficiency of Educational Production: An Analysis of New York School Districts," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(3), pages 499-509, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tae Ho Eom & William Duncombe & Phuong Nguyen-Hoang & John Yinger, 2014. "The Unintended Consequences of Property Tax Relief: New York’s STAR Program," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 446-480, October.
    2. Bo Zhao, 2020. "How to Design a State Education Aid Formula That Is Equitable, Adequate, and Politically Feasible: The Case of Connecticut," Working Papers 21-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    3. Bo Zhao, 2023. "Estimating the cost function of connecticut public K–12 education: implications for inequity and inadequacy in school spending," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 439-470, July.
    4. Simanti Bandyopadhyay, 2013. "Estimating Fiscal Health of Cities: A Methodological Framework for Developing Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1319, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    5. Audun Langørgen, 2015. "A structural approach for analyzing fiscal equalization," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 376-400, June.
    6. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2007. "How Decisive Is the Decisive Voter?," Working papers 2007-28, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2008.
    7. Brunner, Eric J. & Ross, Stephen L., 2010. "Is the median voter decisive? Evidence from referenda voting patterns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 898-910, December.
    8. Gronberg, Timothy J. & Jansen, Dennis W. & Taylor, Lori L., 2011. "The Impact of Facilities on the Cost of Education," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(1), pages 193-218, March.
    9. Simanti Bandyopadhyay, 2014. "Some New Thoughts on Performance Evaluation of Governments: An Application to Indian Cities," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1430, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    10. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2005. "How much more does a disadvantaged student cost?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 513-532, October.
    11. Buerger, Christian & Bifulco, Robert, 2019. "The effect of charter schools on districts’ student composition, costs, and efficiency: The case of New York state," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 61-72.
    12. William Duncombe & John Yinger, 2011. "Making do: state constraints and local responses in California’s education finance system," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(3), pages 337-368, June.
    13. Claus M. Hoerandner & Robert J. Lemke, 2006. "Can No Child Left Behind Close The Gaps In Pass Rates On Standardized Tests?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 24(1), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2005. "How much more does a disadvantaged student cost?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 513-532, October.
    2. Mihály Fazekas, 2012. "School Funding Formulas: Review of Main Characteristics and Impacts," OECD Education Working Papers 74, OECD Publishing.
    3. Brunet, Alexia, 2005. "Protecting Our Homeland: Incorporating Vulnerability to Terrorism in State Homeland Security Grants," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19380, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. John Ruggiero & Donald F. Vitaliano, 1999. "Assessing The Efficiency Of Public Schools Using Data Envelopment Analysis And Frontier Regression," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 17(3), pages 321-331, July.
    5. Katharine L. Bradbury & Bo Zhao, 2008. "Designing state aid formulas: the case of a new formula for distributing municipal aid in Massachusetts," Working Papers 08-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    6. Daniel J. Henderson & Léopold Simar & Le Wang, 2017. "The three s of public schools: irrelevant inputs, insufficient resources and inefficiency," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(12), pages 1164-1184, March.
    7. Meghir, Costas & Rivkin, Steven, 2011. "Econometric Methods for Research in Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 1, pages 1-87, Elsevier.
    8. Maté Sáncuez-Val, M. & García Pérez De Lema, D. & López Hernández, F., 2009. "La influencia de los efectos espaciales en el crecimiento de la productividad de la PYME/," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 27, pages 283(24á)-28, Abril.
    9. Stoddard, Christiana & Kuhn, Peter J., 2004. "Incentives and Effort in the Public Sector: Have U.S. Education Reforms Increased Teachers’ Work Hours?," IZA Discussion Papers 1412, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Kristof De Witte & Laura López-Torres, 2017. "Efficiency in education: a review of literature and a way forward," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(4), pages 339-363, April.
    11. Albouy, David, 2012. "Evaluating the efficiency and equity of federal fiscal equalization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(9-10), pages 824-839.
    12. Reschovsky, Andrew, 1994. "Fiscal Equalization and School Finance," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(1), pages 185-97, March.
    13. Moisio, Antti & Aaltonen, Juho & Kirjavainen, Tanja, 2006. "Efficiency and Productivity in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling 1998-2004," Research Reports 127, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Christopher R. Geller & David L. Sjoquist & Mary Beth Walker, 2006. "The Effect of Private School Competition on Public School Performance in Georgia," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(1), pages 4-32, January.
    15. Claus M. Hoerandner & Robert J. Lemke, 2006. "Can No Child Left Behind Close The Gaps In Pass Rates On Standardized Tests?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 24(1), pages 1-17, January.
    16. Allers, Maarten & Merkus, Erik, 2013. "Soft budget constraint but no moral hazard? The Dutch local government bailout puzzle," Research Report 13014-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    17. Alexander Cappelen & Bertil Tungodden, 2007. "Local autonomy and interregional equality," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 28(3), pages 443-460, April.
    18. Campbell, Colin D. & Fischel, William A., 1996. "Preferences for School Finance Systems: Voters Versus Judges," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(1), pages 1-15, March.
    19. Urquiola, Miguel & Arias, Omar, 2002. "Comments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123137, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Wouter Vermeulen & Maarten Allers, 2013. "Fiscal Equalization and Capitalization: Evidence from a Policy Reform," CPB Discussion Paper 245.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:31:y:2003:i:3:p:263-290. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.