Policymakers and professional educators attempt to be good stewards of public funds while simultaneously raising expectations for student outcomes that reflect academic excellence in the public school system. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of Texas public school districts and the factors influencing the inefficiency of…

Empirical evidence shows that the quality of learning in public schools is very low in India. There is also a robust belief that private schools offer better-quality learning at a lower cost and are a cost-effective alternative to public schools. Most of the evidence on which this latter claim is based does not correct for selection bias--students…

The purpose of this study was to compare multiple regression with canonical analysis in order to introduce a new, policy relevant methodology to the literature on production functions. Findings from this study confirmed the results of past inquiries that found a relationship between the inputs to schooling and measures of student achievement. A…

Since the 1980s, the increasing cost of education has been a global trend, and there is a growing demand for increasing efficiency in different countries. As a result, education economists began focusing on the issue of efficient allocation of educational resources and borrowed production function from economics to study educational production…

The relationship of certain input variables to output was determined by a multiple regression analysis, using a sample of 44 suburban elementary school districts. The four input factors were: (1) socioeconomic characteristics, (2) assessed valuation, (3) per-pupil operating expenditure, and (4) educational treatments. The output was mean scores on…

This report analyzes the results of research into the relationships between such inputs as expenditure per pupil and school district size and the average achievement of pupils in basic subjects. The analysis focuses on production function relationships of education. The results of the analysis illustrate the problems involved in constructing…

The effectiveness of schools and the levels of investment in schooling have been in question since the 1966 Coleman report "Equality of Educational Opportunity." Based on a theory of "knowledge-ability," this study challenges the assumption that given "inputs" will yield equivalent effects or "outputs." In…

This monograph summarizes and evaluates "educational production function analyses"--studies of the relation between inputs and outputs in an education system--in order to aid in educational manpower policy making. In addition, data from New York state school districts and from a large national sample of high school students is subjected to…

This paper uses the data from the 1966 Educational Opportunities Survey (EOS) to investigate regional and racial inequalities in education by applying a definition of inequalities that incorporates both school inputs and educational outcomes. Inequalities in school inputs are weighted by their importance for educational outputs, in order to…

Missouri requires the testing of all eighth grade students on their competence in reading and language arts, mathematics, and government and economics. This statewide assessment is referred to as the Missouri Basic Essential Skills Test (BEST) and has been given in the spring of each year since 1978. A study was undertaken to determine which…

This book presents the results of 15 years of input-output (I-O) research on schooling effectiveness. The I-O approach identifies and measures the inschool and out-of-school factors that contribute to schooling outcomes, especially reading skills and verbal and mathematics achievement. Five categories of inputs are reviewed in this textbook: (1)…