University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Differences in financially stressed and non-financially stressed suburban Cook County elementary public school districts: An ex post facto study

Geraghty, Bernard Kenneth

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Description

Title
Differences in financially stressed and non-financially stressed suburban Cook County elementary public school districts: An ex post facto study
Author(s)
Geraghty, Bernard Kenneth
Issue Date
1993
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Ward, James G.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Education, Finance
  • Education, Administration
Language
eng
Abstract
  • This study investigated the differences that exist between those districts which have been identified by the State Board of Education as being financially stressed and those districts which have not been identified as being financially stressed. The specific question addressed was: How are financially stressed school districts different from non-financially stressed school districts?
  • Data were obtained from the Illinois State Report Card, the Illinois State Board of Education Data Systems Office, and the Center for Metropolitan Statistics and Research. The setting for this study was the 115 elementary public school districts in suburban Cook County, Illinois.
  • Twenty variables were analyzed to determine the differences that existed between financially stressed school districts and non-financially stressed school districts. The 20 variables were grouped into the following three categories: financial, instructional, and student. Analysis was done by using the one-tailed t-test to determine whether a significant difference existed between the means of the two groups. The group means were computed and the variation among the values in each group were examined. The coefficient of variation was used to examine the variation expressed in terms of statistical significance and the differences were stated to be significant at the.05 level of significance.
  • From the findings of this study, we can conclude that there are significant financial differences in total expenditures per pupil, instructional expenditures per pupil, supportive services expenditures, district operating tax rates, and property values per pupil. There is a significant instructional difference in average years of teacher experience. In addition, there are statistical student academic performance differences in sixth and eighth grade reading scores and sixth and eighth grade mathematic scores.
  • The results of the correlation analysis reveal a large number of significant correlations. This suggests that multicollinearity may be a factor in this study; therefore, limiting somewhat the results of the t-test analysis. Further statistical analysis well beyond the scope of the study would be necessary to discern the precise nature of this phenomenon.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/19595
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1993 Geraghty, Bernard Kenneth

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