Design for an education system cost-effectiveness model

Abstract

The purpose of the overall education cost-effectiveness model is to evaluate the relative school, student, and community effects and associated costs of alternative U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 Title I programs for the disadvantaged. Since such programs are directed toward increasing learning, the model focuses strongly on the changes in student achievement, the attitudes and environmental factors influencing achievement, and the social behaviors and community impacts of improved achievement in the target population. The model may be described as a partly micro-educational model, because of its representation of some of the detailed components of the education process. However, the model does not pretend to be a micro-analysis of learning and influence processes, although these processes are represented by whatever objective correlatives are available in the form of qualitative numerical indices. Refinement of the model design is continuing. This description is current for November 1967. The model also does not pretend to be an exhaustive representation of what leads to changed student achievement, attitudes, earning potential, and equality of educational opportunity. The attempt was to emphasize those aspects of the education process that seem most relevant to achievement increases in students affected by Title I programs, and for which quantitative data is widely available. Some attitudinal variables believed decisive for the learning process are not yet quantitatively defined, and there is only qualitative, impressionistic data available on them. Rather than simply omit such troublesome but significant variables, and thus falsely imply insignificance by omission, the qualitative variables are sometimes given numerical index ratings roughly corresponding to such qualitative distinctions as are offered by empirical but impressionistic data. In other cases, qualitative variables are built up numerically from components for which better data is available, or assigned index values by user judgment. In all cases, the attempt has been made to achieve a useful balance among the demands for compact data input, limited model complexity and validity of output.