Resource allocation and performance of high school students in unit school districts in the state of Illinois

Illinois has distinguished itself as one of the most inequitable states in the nation when it comes to state PK-12 education funding. With the advent of the No Child Left Behind Act, and more recently, the Every Student Succeeds Act, student achievement data has been thrust in front of the public, and conversations regarding equity, quality, accountability, and efficiency have dominated much of the dialogue regarding public education. This ex post facto quantitative study examined the relationship between instructional expenditures and the achievement of 11th grade students in public PK-12 (unit) school districts in the State of Illinois on the composite portion of the ACT. Data used for this study involved the 2012-2013 school year administration of the ACT exam and financial data reported for 375 Illinois unit school districts to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) from that year. The analysis involved instructional expenditures and the performance of 11th grade students on the composite score of the ACT examination. The study also analyzed relationships between instructional spending and student performance while accommodating for poverty level as measured by student participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) through free or reduced-priced lunch. The study then analyzed the relationship between instructional spending and the performance of Black, Hispanic, and Native American student subgroups. Finally, the relationship between instructional spending and the performance of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students was analyzed after accommodating for poverty level as measured by participation in NSLP. There was no statistically significant relationship between instructional spending and the overall performance of 11th grade students in Illinois unit school districts in the 2012-2013 school year. No statistically significant relationship was found after accommodating for poverty. However, findings did show a significant relationship between instructional spending and the performance of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students where these student subgroups comprised 10-20% of the district enrollments. This finding was consistent regardless of whether the analysis accommodated for poverty level. However, no statistically significant relationships were found in districts where less than 10% or over 20% of the overall student enrollment was comprised of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. The conclusion is that district spending on instruction does have a relationship to 11th grade student achievement in unit school districts for specific, targeted student populations