ERIC Number: EJ1229659
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2332-8584
EISSN: N/A
Does the Measurement Matter? Assessing Alternate Approaches to Measuring State School Finance Equity for California's Local Control Funding Formula
Knight, David S.; Mendoza, Jesús
AERA Open, v5 n3 Jul-Sep 2019
Scholars have not reached consensus on the best approach to measure state school finance equity. The regression-based approach estimates the relationship between district poverty rate and funding level, controlling for other district cost factors. A second commonly used approach involves estimating the weighted average funding level for low-income students or other subgroups. Meanwhile, policymakers have preferences for their own data systems and poverty indicators when reading reports and assessing progress. We constructed parallel, district-level panel data sets using data from the California Department of Education and the U.S. Census. We estimated changes over time in district-level school finance equity under California's Local Control Funding Formula, using multiple school finance measurement approaches, with each of the two data sets. Our results show that different methods and analytic choices result in policy-relevant differences in findings. We discuss the implications for policy and future research.
Descriptors: Educational Equity (Finance), Low Income, Funding Formulas, Measurement, State Departments of Education, Census Figures, Poverty, School Districts, Correlation, Change, Educational Finance, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1661097; 1945937

Peer reviewed
