Relationship between Expenditures and Quality Characteristics of Education in Public Schools

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationship between selected measures of educational quality and expenditure in public secondary schools of Iowa with the influence of school district size held constant.Criteria for characteristics of educational quality were: composite test scores of pupils grades 10-12 on Iowa Tests of Educational Development, the curricular offerings of schools for grades 10-12, qualifications of teachers grades 10-12, and the class size grades 10-12. Measures of educational expenditures were: mean instructional expenditures for grades 10-12 per resident pupil in ADA, estimated administration expenditures per resident pupil in ADA grades 10-12, and tuition charge for grades 10-12 per resident pupil in ADA. Using product-moment and partial correlations, it was found that in order to obtain equal quality, the expenditure per pupil in small school districts has to be substantially higher than in districts with larger enrollment.