Student Achievement, Community Socioeconomic Characteristics and Categories of Educational Expenditure in Connecticut Public Schools

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between selected demographic and educational expenditure inputs and student performance outputs in Connecticut’s 166 public school districts. The conceptual framework for this investigation was based upon recent state legislative action intended to improve the quality of Connecticut's public schools. In focusing in large measure on the financial aspects of legislative efforts as they related to newly implemented student performance measures in the state, this study attempted to determine the potential effects of recent reform initiatives on educational productivity in Connecticut. Three socioeconomic characteristics of the Connecticut public school district communities were selected: district wealth, educational background and occupational status of each district’s adult population, Six district-level educational expenditure categories and three other finance related items were considered: total current per pupil expenditure levels; per pupil expenditure levels for regular instruction, special education, compensatory education, pupil support services, and administrative services; equalization aid levels; mean teacher salary levels; and average classroom teacher per pupil ratios. Academic achievement was measured by means of the cumulative district averages of eighth grade student performance on the mathematics and language arts components of the October 1988 Connecticut Mastery Test. Twelve hypotheses were analyzed to determine the extent of the relationship between each independent variable and the dependent student performance variables using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient technique. The relationships between academic achievement and the educational input variables were found to be statistically significant in all but two instances: per pupil expenditure levels for pupil support services and mean teacher salary levels. The socioeconomic variables of district wealth rank, educational background and occupational status displayed strong positive correlations to student performance measures. Equally significant inverse relationships were found between Connecticut Mastery Test results and expenditures related to compensatory education and state equalization aid allocations. A supplementary analysis of the demographic factor of district size generally supported the original findings. However, the negative correlation between academic achievement and expenditures for compensatory education was substantially less when Connecticut's five large cities were excluded from the research sample.