We leverage an obscure set of rules in Texas's school funding formula granting some districts additional revenue as a function of size and sparsity. We use variation from kinks and discontinuities in this formula to ask how districts spend additional discretionary funds, and whether these improve student outcomes. A $1,000 annual increase in…

This study examined the relationship between school funding and graduation rates of Hispanic students. Data from a purposeful sample of 147 Texas school districts identified as having a student Hispanic population greater than 75% were examined. Additionally, superintendents were interviewed to provide an in-depth understanding of the potential…

Expectations and legislation have placed new accountability measures on educators to ensure that students are college ready upon high school graduation. Research was necessary to analyze the relationship between instructional spending and college readiness measures as reported on the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) in Texas. The…

In this study, the researchers examined the five most recent years of data (2003-2004 through 2007-2008) from the Academic Excellence Indicator System of the State of Texas regarding new teachers on elementary school campuses. We examined the extent to which differences were present between elementary school campuses with the highest new teacher…

The researchers examined the most recent year of data (i.e., 2008-2009) from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System regarding accountability ratings and student characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, programmatic enrollment, mobility) in elementary schools (n = 4,110). Accountability ratings (i.e., Exemplary, Recognized, Academically…

We examined the five most recent years of data (2003-2004 through 2007-2008) from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System regarding new teachers employed at high school campuses. We specifically focused on the extent to which differences were present between high school campuses with the highest new teacher percentages and high school…

Background: The overall goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 is to close, by the end of the 2013-2014 academic year, "the achievement gap between high- and low- performing students, especially the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students and, between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers"…