On Local Control: Is Bigger Better?

Autor/in	Walberg, Herbert J.
Titel	On Local Control: Is Bigger Better?
Quelle	(1992), (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Cost Effectiveness; Educational Finance; Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Mathematics Achievement; Public Schools; School District Size; School Size; State Aid; State School District Relationship; National Assessment of Educational Progress + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse; Kosten-Nutzen-Denken; Bildungsfonds; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Mathmatics sikills; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematical ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; School district; School districts; Size; Schuleinzugsbereich; Staatliches Schulamt
Abstract	The United States ranks first in the world among major industrialized nations in school costs and ranks nearly last in student achievement. Three massive changes in state educational policies during the last half century may account for this low educational productivity. From 1940 to 1990: (1) the number of U.S. school districts decreased 87 percent (from 117,108 to 15,367), while average district enrollment increased over 10 times from 217 students to 2,637; (2) the number of public schools decreased 69 percent (from approximately 200,000 to 62,037), while average enrollment increased over 4 times from 127 students to 653; and (3) the percentage of school revenues from state funding increased from 30 to 48 percent, now exceeding local revenues. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and federal reports were analyzed for 37 states and the District of Columbia. Average state scores for grade 8 mathematics proficiency were significantly and negatively related to average school size, average district size, and percentage of educational funding (excluding federal funds) paid by the state. This finding is supported by a literature review covering research on economies and "diseconomies" of scale, the relationship of organizational size to efficiency and productivity, the growth of state educational bureaucracies, the influence of school size on educational outcomes, and the effects of "remote" educational funding on local control and accountability. (SV)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC