Throwing money doesn't improve performance, the study shows.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Getting children into the classroom may be the single most important thing a school district can do to improve achievement.
That's a key finding in a study of factors affecting pupil performance in Ohio's public schools, released today by The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions.
Improving achievement in public schools is one of the most important policy problems facing Ohio right now, according to the institute, a nonpartisan research and educational organization.
The study analyzed factors most commonly thought to affect academic performance. It looked at achievement levels for every school district and every charter school in the state.
Attendance was one constant that showed up as a positive influence across the board, indicating that increasing attendance increases achievement, the study said.
Following close behind as a positive influence was the quality of teachers, with the study finding that having teachers rated as "highly qualified" under No Child Left Behind standards was more important to pupil performance than long tenure or a master's degree.
"It is tempting to believe that we can simply buy a better education system," the study said, but its findings indicate otherwise.
Ohio has boosted its financial commitment to public schools for at least two decades, roughly doubling its spending, but the National Assessment of Educational Progress released earlier this year shows that only 38 percent of Ohio's pupils scored proficient or above in math. In reading, the number was only 35 percent.
The study, however, did find that an increase in funding directed specifically for instruction, rather than for administrative or other costs, is a positive factor in boosting pupil performance. The key is getting that money into the classroom.
Additional conclusions
Other findings include:
Reducing class sizes by adding teacher aides has no positive effect, but reducing class size by increasing the number of full-time teachers does.
Pupil mobility (moving from district to district or school to school) is a serious obstacle to academic achievement. When a student body experiences a lot of turnover, the school is less likely to perform well academically.
Poor behavior and disciplinary matters have only a small negative impact on achievement.
The study looked at all of those same factors in Ohio's charter schools, which are regarded as public schools (though with less state control over their programs than traditional public schools), but found none of them to be much of an influence on pupil performance.
"The study also finds that charter schools are in fact a substantially different educational institution where different factors matter to student success," the study said, adding that charter schools can't be treated simply as an extension of the traditional public school system.
"Any attempt to regulate charter schools as though they are traditional public schools will be ineffective at best, and harmful to academic achievement at worst," the study said.
gwin@vindy.com
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Throwing money doesn't improve performance, the study shows.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Getting children into the classroom may be the single most important thing a school district can do to improve achievement.
That's a key finding in a study of factors affecting pupil performance in Ohio's public schools, released today by The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions.
Improving achievement in public schools is one of the most important policy problems facing Ohio right now, according to the institute, a nonpartisan research and educational organization.
The study analyzed factors most commonly thought to affect academic performance. It looked at achievement levels for every school district and every charter school in the state.
Attendance was one constant that showed up as a positive influence across the board, indicating that increasing attendance increases achievement, the study said.
Following close behind as a positive influence was the quality of teachers, with the study finding that having teachers rated as "highly qualified" under No Child Left Behind standards was more important to pupil performance than long tenure or a master's degree.
"It is tempting to believe that we can simply buy a better education system," the study said, but its findings indicate otherwise.
Ohio has boosted its financial commitment to public schools for at least two decades, roughly doubling its spending, but the National Assessment of Educational Progress released earlier this year shows that only 38 percent of Ohio's pupils scored proficient or above in math. In reading, the number was only 35 percent.
The study, however, did find that an increase in funding directed specifically for instruction, rather than for administrative or other costs, is a positive factor in boosting pupil performance. The key is getting that money into the classroom.
Additional conclusions
Other findings include:
Reducing class sizes by adding teacher aides has no positive effect, but reducing class size by increasing the number of full-time teachers does.
Pupil mobility (moving from district to district or school to school) is a serious obstacle to academic achievement. When a student body experiences a lot of turnover, the school is less likely to perform well academically.
Poor behavior and disciplinary matters have only a small negative impact on achievement.
The study looked at all of those same factors in Ohio's charter schools, which are regarded as public schools (though with less state control over their programs than traditional public schools), but found none of them to be much of an influence on pupil performance.
"The study also finds that charter schools are in fact a substantially different educational institution where different factors matter to student success," the study said, adding that charter schools can't be treated simply as an extension of the traditional public school system.
"Any attempt to regulate charter schools as though they are traditional public schools will be ineffective at best, and harmful to academic achievement at worst," the study said.
gwin@vindy.com
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Getting children into the classroom may be the single most important thing a school district can do to improve...
