In this era of increased accountability of public schools, standardized testing has been selected as a primary tool for assessing school performance. Since 1999 the state of California has used a summary measure of student test scores, the Academic Performance Index (API), to rank all public schools and has attached rewards and sanctions to the results. Analysis of 2 years of API scores for two large urban districts using variables measuring student socioeconomic status, teacher training and experience, and school characteristics provides strong evidence that this measure of school performance is largely driven by the socioeconomic conditions of the school. Teacher training and experience also have positive effects on school performance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arum, R. (2000). Schools and communities: Ecological and institutional dimensions. Annual Reviews in Sociology, 26, 395-418.
2.
Betts, J. R., Rueben, K. S., & Danenberg, A. (2000). Equal resources, equal outcomes? The distribution of school resources and student achievement in California. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
3.
California Department of Education. (2000). Fact book 2000: Handbook of education information. Sacramento: Author.
California Department of Education Office of Policy and Evaluation. (2000). 1999 base year Academic Performance Index (API). Sacramento: Author.
6.
Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E. Q., Hobson, C. J., McPartland, J., Mood, A. M., Weinfeld, F. D., et al. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
7.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8, 1. Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n1
Dauber, S., Alexander, K. L., & Entwhistle, D. R. (1996). Tracking and transitions through the middle grades. Channeling educational trajectories. Sociology of Education, 69(3), 290-307.
10.
Education Commission of the States. (2000). Performance based accountability: Public rankings, profiles, or categorization of schools/districts state policies. Denver, CO: Author.
11.
Egelko, B. (2002, August 30). Schools can't look at race in transfers. San Francisco Chronicle,p. A24.
12.
Entwhistle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olsen, L. S. (1997). Children, schools and inequality. Boulder, CO: Westview.
13.
Hanushek, E. (1996). School resources and student performance. In G. Burtless (Ed.), Does money matter? The effect of school resources on student attainment and adult success (pp. 43-73). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
14.
Hedges, L. V., & Greenwald, R. (1996). Have times changed? The relationship between school resources and student performance. In G. Burtless (Ed.), Does money matter? The effect of school resources on student attainment and adult success (pp. 74-92). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
15.
Helfand, D., & Smith, D. (1999, March 12). Zacarias orders overhaul of new phonics materials. Los Angeles Times, p. B1.
16.
Hill, P. T., Wise, A. E., & Shapiro, L. (1989). Educational progress: Cities mobilize to improve their schools. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.
Jencks, C. (1972). Inequality: A reassessment of the effect of family and schooling. New York: Basic Books.
19.
Jencks, C. (1979). Who gets ahead? The determinants of economic success in America. New York: Basic Books.
20.
Kahlenberg, R. D. (2001). All together now: Creating middle-class schools through public school choice. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
21.
Lareau, A. (2000). Home advantage. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
22.
Lee, V. E., & Loeb, S. (2000). Effects of school size on attitudes and achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 3-31.
23.
Linn, R. L., Baker, E. L., & Betebenner, D. W. (2003). Accountability systems: Implications of requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Educational Researcher, 31(6), 3-16.
24.
Mickelson, R. A. (2001). Subverting Swann: First and second-generation segregation in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. American Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 215-252.
25.
Miller, L. S. (1995). An American imperative: Accelerating minority educational advancement. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
26.
Oakes, J. (n.d.). Multi-track year-round calendar (Concept 6) and busing to address overcrowding. Decent schools for California: Williams v. State of California. Retrieved from http://www.decentschools.org/experts.php?sub=per
27.
Oliver, M. L., & Shapiro, T. M. (1997). Black wealth/White wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. New York: Routledge.
28.
Powers, J. M. (2003, April). What matters? Evaluating the determinants of school performance. Paper presented at the American Educational Association Annual Meeting, Chicago.
29.
Richard, A. (2002a, May 22). Broad effort to mix students by wealth under fire in N.C. Education Week, 1-4.
30.
Richard, A. (2002b, January 9). Cambridge becomes latest district to integrate by income. Education Week, 11.
31.
Schrag, P. (1998). Paradise lost. California's experience, America's future. Berkeley: University of California Press.
32.
Smith, D. (1999, June 27). Worst schools list flawed, analysis finds. Los Angeles Times, p. A1.
33.
Technical Design Group of the Advisory Committee of the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. (2000). Construction of California's 1999 School Characteristics Index and similar schools ranks. Sacramento: California Department of Education, Office of Policy and Evaluation.
34.
U.S. Department of Education Planning and Evaluation Service. (2001). High standards for all students: A report from the National Assessment of Title I on progress and challenges since the 1994 reauthorization. Washington, DC: Author.
35.
Wenglinksy, H. (1997). How money matters: The effect of school district spending on academic achievement. Sociology of Education, 70(3), 221-237.
36.
Wenglinksy, H. (1998). Finance equalization and within-school equity: The relationship between educational spending and the social distribution of achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 20(4), 269-283.
37.
Wells, A. S., & Crain, R. (1999). Stepping over the color line: African American students in White suburban schools. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
