Student Discipline Disparities in Virginia

Large racial disparities in student discipline are thought to be directly contributing to disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system. Little has been done to learn about what acts as a predictor of and gives rise to these disparities. The current research aims to add to this conversation by examining the relationship between racial disparities in reported student offenders, measured using risk ratio, and two budget variables: the proportion of budget going towards diversity inclusion and per-pupil expenditures. Specifically, the research asks: How does spending on specific diversity programs and overall spending on students affect racial disparities in student discipline? A meta-analysis was utilized to answer this question. Data on Black, Hispanic, and White male students with no disabilities were collected from 314 public high schools across 126 school districts in Virginia. To find the correlation between racial disparities in reported student offenders and specific diversity programs as well as overall spending on students, a Pearson’s r test for correlation was conducted. Disparities in student discipline were positively correlated with the proportion of budget going toward diversity inclusion, but this correlation was not statistically significant. On the other hand, disparities in student discipline had a statistically significant positive correlation with per-pupil expenditures. This positive correlation indicates that the wealth of a district acts as a predictor of levels of racial disparity in student discipline. This suggests that the demographics of a district or segregation within a district could contribute to or exacerbate the existence of such disparities.

Special Education Teacher Shortage: Differences Between High and Low Shortage States

In this study, using Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) personnel data from 2006 to 2014, we identified seven states with consistently low shortages of highly qualified special education teachers and seven states with persistently high shortages. We employed Guarino et al.’s framework to guide our assumptions and selection of demographic, supply, and demand variables and compared two groups in this descriptive analysis. We found significant differences across supply and demand variables. Low shortage states make greater investments in per pupil expenditures; have higher teacher salaries, generally; have greater preparation capacity; and produce more special education graduates. Taken together, our findings suggest that special education teaching is a relatively better job in low shortage states than in high shortage states. We situate the discussion of our findings within policy recommendations that states may use to address shortages. Limitations of our analysis are addressed, and implications for future research are proposed.

Schoolhouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Education Spending in the States

Using new estimates of state-level public opinion, I explore the relationship between support for increased education spending and statewide per-pupil expenditures from 1986 to 2013. In the 1980s, there was a modest, positive relationship between public opinion and actual spending: States with greater support for increased education spending tended to have slightly higher per pupil expenditures. Over the next three decades, this relationship reversed. States with relatively low per-pupil expenditures tended to increase their spending at a slower rate despite steady growth in support for more spending. As a result, public opinion and education spending became inversely related. By the end of the time series, states with greater support for increased education spending tended to spend less per pupil. The changing distribution of local, state, and federal sources of education spending partially explains this pattern. As federal education expenditures rose, some states spent proportionally less from state and local sources, resulting in smaller overall spending increases in those states.

State-Wide Teacher Walkouts Highlight Equality Gaps

Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and West Virginia mounted statewide teacher walkouts related to teacher salary during 2018. This study offers a synthesis of literature surrounding the walkouts, along with examination of similarities and differences in publicly available measures, highlighting equity gaps and comparison to states whose teaching force did not choose to walkout and demand increased pay and per-student spending, better benefits, or better working conditions. Relationships are sought between the variables considered: per-pupil expenditures, achievement, graduation rates, college persistence of high school graduates, college graduation rates, attainment of varied levels of degree credentials, and cost of living, as related to teacher salaries, increases, and decreases. Links between political and policy issues and the variables related to unrest leading to the walkouts are explored through literature.

Locating Chicago’s charter schools: A socio-spatial analysis

This project contributes to the body of research examining the implications of the geographic location of charter schools for student access, especially in high-poverty communities. Using geographic information systems (GIS) software, this paper uses data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of the census tracts in which Chicago’s charter schools tend to locate. Echoing the findings of other researchers who have examined charter school locational patterns, the present analyses found evidence of a “ceiling effect” by which many charter schools appear to locate in Chicago’s higher-needs census tracts, broadly cast, but avoid locating directly within those that are highest-need. The findings suggest that because Chicago’s charter schools face per-pupil expenditures that are often up to 20% less than those of traditional public schools, they may strategically leverage location to help shape student enrollment. By frequently locating near, but not directly within highest-need communities, charter schools may find it easier to attract a quorum of relatively higher achieving students who are less expensive to educate, therefore increasing their chances of meeting academic benchmarks and retaining their charters. By extending the findings of other researchers to the context of Chicago—where charters represent an ever-increasing share of the public school market—the present analyses may inform future revisions to the policies governing the authorization of charter schools in Chicago, with the goal of increasing access for highest-need students.

Incorporating Access to More Effective Teachers into Assessments of Educational Resource Equity

To address gaps in achievement between more- and less-affluent students, states and districts need to ensure that high-poverty students and schools have equitable access to educational resources. Traditionally, assessments of resource equity have focused on per-pupil expenditures and more proximal inputs, such as teacher credentials and class size, despite the inconsistent and/or weak relationships between these measures and student performance. Given the sizable and direct effects of teachers on student achievement, we argue that (1) teachers’ value-added scores should be incorporated into assessments of resource equity and (2) providing schools with greater flexibility for setting salaries or using strategic staffing initiatives may be necessary to achieve an equitable distribution of effective teachers. To illustrate these assertions we incorporate teacher value added into a case study of resource allocation in the public high schools of Wayne County, North Carolina, which have been the target of a complaint by the North Carolina National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.