The Determinants of Student Achievement in Ohio's Public Schools

Matthew Carr [pdf]:

One of the most important, and seemingly intractable, policy problems facing the state of Ohio is how to improve student achievement in public schools. This report rigorously analyzes the factors most commonly thought to affect student achievement. It uses quantitative econometric techniques to separate the factors that truly matter from the ones that only distract policy makers from effective change. To capture the changing dynamics of both different academic subjects and students at different ages, this analysis evaluates student performance in five subjects (math, reading, writing, science and citizenship) across grades 3 to 12. This combination gives us 21 separate analyses, or mathematical models. Controls were also included for geography, student socio-economic status, race, and learning disability.

This study breaks new ground by also analyzing the factors that influence student performance in charter schools. Charter schools are a new system of public schools, created by the legislature in 1997. To date they are authorized only in large cities. By assessing whether the inputs that affect achievement in traditional public schools are similar to those that affect achievement in charter schools, we can determine to what degree these two public institutions are similar.

The Buckeye Institute.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 22, 2006 6:40 AM
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