ERIC Number: EJ1070336
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1557-3060
EISSN: N/A
School Districts and Student Achievement
Chingos, Matthew M.; Whitehurst, Grover J.; Gallaher, Michael R.
Education Finance and Policy, v10 n3 p378-398 Sum 2015
School districts are a focus of education reform efforts in the United States, but there is very little existing research about how important they are to student achievement. We fill this gap in the literature using 10 years of student-level, statewide data on fourth- and fifth-grade students in Florida and North Carolina. A variance decomposition analysis based on hierarchical linear models indicates that districts account for only a small share (1 to 2 percent) of the total variation in student achievement. Nevertheless, the differences between lower- and higher-performing districts are large enough to be of practical and policy significance, with a one standard deviation difference in district effectiveness corresponding to about 0.11 standard deviations in student achievement (about nine weeks of schooling). District performance is generally stable over time, but there are examples of districts that have shown significant increases or decreases in performance.
Descriptors: School Districts, Academic Achievement, Grade 4, Grade 5, Elementary School Students, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Correlation
MIT Press. 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. Tel: 617-253-2889; Fax: 617-253-1709; e-mail: journals-rights@mit.edu; Web site: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/edfp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Elementary Education; Grade 5; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida; North Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A