Resource allocation decisions made by school boards, principals, and teachers are critical for they determine the adequacy and equity of resources actually made available for specific schools, educational programs and individual students. The most important resources are often concealed by aggregate state or district measures such as dollars per student. For these decisions, the most important resources are elements such as basic and supplemental staffing levels, staff time, funding amounts for textbooks and supplies, selection of new equipment (particularly technology), and support for new or renovated facilities. The authors review current practices at each important decision-making level in school districts, from the school board to the classroom. At each juncture, the findings are interpreted to reveal both the causes of the practices and their implications for improving school effectiveness. This book provides new research in helping to inform and improve resource allocation practices in schools. The general conclusion is that improvement in the resource allocation practices in education requires a shift in focus to results instead of inputs, a strong emphasis on student learning as the primary focus of decisions, and systematic evaluation of results.

A how-to manual for achieving excellence despite budget cuts This book offers a comprehensive framework to enhance student achievement in good times and in bad. The author provides a school improvement action plan and then shows how to target resources to implement that plan. More than just a “theory” book, this text describes concrete, specific actions that can be taken immediately. Key strategies include: Using data to support boosting student performance Focusing on effective instruction Setting goals to drive resource allocation priorities Setting priorities for situations that require budget cuts Hiring top teachers and providing ongoing professional development Providing needed technology resources

This text is a companion volume to the four-part PBS documentary series of the same name. Essays by five historians of American education examine the history of the American public school system, from colonial times to the present. They consider a variety of issues faced by educators, parents, politicians and voters over the decades, including state versus local control, educating non-English speakers, specialized vocational tracks, approaches to school integration, the use of intelligence and standardized tests to assess academic potential, the challenges to providing the same quality of education to districts of varying socio-economic levels. Serious writing, but accessible to general readers interested in public education. c. Book News Inc.

Improving public schools through performance-based funding Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public-school funding, the United States now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. Yet American students still achieve less than their foreign counterparts, their performance has been flat for decades, millions of them are failing, and poor and minority students remain far behind their more advantaged peers. In this book, Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth trace the history of reform efforts and conclude that the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever-increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Instead, Hanushek and Lindseth propose a new approach: a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. Hanushek and Lindseth have been important participants in the school funding debate for three decades. Here, they draw on their experience, as well as the best available research and data, to show why improving schools will require overhauling the way financing, incentives, and accountability work in public education.

The State of Education Policy Research is a comprehensive, insightful evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of education policy research in the U.S. today. Editors Susan Fuhrman, David Cohen, and Fritz Mosher examine key issues facing policymakers and researchers including race, education equity, teacher quality, early education, privatization, and the politics of education policy. Collectively, the chapters present a complex mosaic of education policy research that integrates the views of policy experts from education, economics, and related disciplines. Important topics discussed in this influential new text include: Politics of education—Covers research on key political groups including teachers’ unions, business roundtables, parent and/or religious advocates, as well as state and federal lawmakers. Race—Discusses race as an issue as well as a non-issue and includes a discussion of the testing gap. State policies— Provides an overview of state policies directed at improving teacher quality and discusses the reality of a teacher shortage. National Trends—Analyzes current trends toward centralization and standardization and the growing influence of federal and state mandates. This book is appropriate for advanced courses in education administration, politics, and policy. It will also appeal to policy researchers in education, economics, and political science, to policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels and to the academic libraries serving them.