Instead of asking whether money matters, this paper questions whose money matters in public education. Previous literature on education funding uses an aggregate expenditure per pupil to measure the relationship between education funding and academic performance. Federalism creates mainly three levels of funding sources: federal, state, and local…

A predictive model of assistant superintendents willingness to become superintendent was created using three factors: personal (age, gender, marital status, and parenthood), professional (district size, district needs, and being mentored), and volition (willingness to appear for multiple interviews, give up their current position, be interviewed…

The increased demand for educational reform and accountability has resulted in a renewed focus on the relationship between building leaders and district leaders, particularly on how district leaders can support principals to ensure the academic success of students. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and Race to the Top (RttT) legislations…

We evaluate the effectiveness of small high school reform in the country's largest school district, New York City. Using a rich administrative dataset for multiple cohorts of students and distance between student residence and school to instrument for endogenous school selection, we find substantial heterogeneity in school effects: newly created…

There is a slowly emerging literature that seeks to understand how the Great Recession affected other parts of the economy; however, there is no research that examines the effect of Great Recession (or any other recession) on schools. Given the fundamental role of education in human capital formation and growth, it is essential to understand the…

Making robust and reliable information about schools accessible is one of the most powerful ways to foster engagement and promote informed decisions that will shape our communities. Though education data is frequently collected and aggregated at the state level, data is rarely synthesized across cities. This report provides comparable information…

In the era of No Child Left Behind, principals are increasingly held accountable for student performance. But are teacher labor agreements giving them enough flexibility to manage effectively? This study answers this question and others. It examines how much flexibility school leaders enjoy on key dimensions of management in America's fifty…

Consolidation has dramatically reduced the number of school districts in the United States. Using data from rural school districts in New York, this article provides the first direct estimation of consolidation's cost impacts. We find economies of size in operating spending: all else equal, doubling enrollment cuts operating costs per pupil by…

Attention is focused on the possible loss of efficiency associated with efforts to increase size by closing schools and consolidating school districts. Empirical evidence from New York State is presented that shows that lower levels of efficiency exist in large compared to small school districts. Implications for policy are explored. (Author/CT)

Research (Goodman, Fulbright, & Zimmerman, 1997; IEL, 2001) supports that the most critical decision a school board has to make is its selection and appointment of a superintendent to lead the district toward its mission of effective schooling for all students. Given that board members hold influential power in this regard, what competencies…

Based on the assumption that a strong teacher contract can restrict the latitude of school administrators, this study tested the following hypothesis: School principals who participate fully in board-teacher collective bargaining as negotiators or active consultants will perceive themselves to have greater on-the-job discretion than principals who…

Explores relationships between school district enrollment and the internal allocation of resources across subject areas of the curriculum. Empirical work is based on a random sample of 79 New York state school districts and includes cross-sectional as well as longitudinal results. (MLF)

Considerable interest in consolidation or reorganization of school districts derives from the perception that consolidation produces significant cost savings due to scale economies in the provision of education. This paper examines potential cost savings from consolidation of New York school districts--an initiative actively encouraged by the…

Examines evidence on the effects of school and school district size in light of the educational reform movement and increasingly sophisticated telecommunications. Discusses an emerging technology of individualization that could alter conceptions of optimal school size. Focuses on New York studies. Contains 35 references. (SV)

Although New York State introduced its standards-based reform over a decade ago, it remains unclear as to how local education agencies (LEAs) have reconfigured their human resources in response to these initiatives. This paper demonstrates how state-collected personnel data can be used to generate longitudinal indicators of the kinds of…