A study of the relationship among financial efficiency, school size, school level and academic achievement in selected Texas school districts

Purpose The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to determine if significant relationships existed between financial efficiency (the manner in which school districts allocate funds for instructional and administrative purposes), school size, school level and academic achievement in a selected group of school districts; secondly, to determine if the percentage of a school district's budget allocated for instructional and administrative salaries had any relationship with student academic achievement. Procedures The randomly selected subjects for this study were forty-eight school districts located in a thirty-five county area along the central Texas gulf coast and south Texas. The superintendent of each school district in the study was contacted and agreed to provide the standardized achievement test scores from his school district. The necessary budgetary information was acquired from the Texas Education Agency. Twenty-eight hypotheses were presented which were germane to any relationship between the variables. The Arialysis of Variance statistical procedure was used to test each hypothesis and significant relationships were determined at the .05 level. Conclusions Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were reached: 1. There is a significant relationship between academic achievement, as measured by mathematics and reading achievement tests, and the financial efficiency of a school district. 2. The financial efficiency - academic achievement relationship does not have a different effect at the elementary and secondary levels. 3. The study was inconclusive in determining if the size of the school district has an effect on the academic achievement of students in reading and mathematics. 4. The interaction of financial efficiency and size of school district had a significant relationship with academic achievement in reading and mathematics. 5. That portion of a school district's budget allocated to instructional salaries does have an effect on the academic achievement of students in reading and mathematics. 6. There is a lack of conclusiveness in the determination of a significant relationship between academic achievement in reading and mathematics and the interaction of school district size and allocation for instructional salaries. 7. That portion of a school district's budget allocated to administrative salaries does not have a significant relationship with academic achievement in reading and mathematics. 8. There is no significant relationship between academic achievement and the interaction of school district size and allocation for administrative salaries. Recommendations The following recommendations are suggested for public school practices and research: Public School Practice 1. The school board and top ranking administrators of each school district should annually make a critical analysis of the school district budget. 2. Each school district should allocate as high a percentage of the total budget as is feasibly practical to the total for instructional salaries. This would include the employment of additional teachers as well as raising the salaries of currently employed teachers. 3. Each school district should allocate as high a percentage of the total budget as is feasibly practical to the total for instructional purposes. This would include proven teaching aids, Education Service Center services and experimental teaching methods. Each school district should strive to maintain a level of administrative expenditures comparable to other districts in the area and not exceeding a reasonable percentage of its own budget, while still providing quality leadership and administrative services. Research The study should be replicated in other areas of the state to substantiate the findings. Different achievement tests might be used in additional research to verify these findings. There would be considerable substance in a study which utilized school district sizes of a narrower range to delve into the aspect of the effects of school district size on achievement.