An analysis of educational expenditures and educational outcomes in Tennessee public school districts

The major purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between educational expenditures and educational outcomes in Tennessee public school districts for the 2000–01 school year. It also sought to determine if there were significant differences in student academic achievement and TCAP and TVAAS scores for Tennessee public school districts that had average annual per-pupil expenditures above or below the state\u27s median expenditure level. The sample included all 137 Tennessee public school districts and used aggregated TCAP and TVAAS scores for grades K–5 in reading and mathematics for the 2000–01 school year. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and simple regression analyses were used when relationships were examined. Unpaired t-tests were used to test casual comparisons. The study tested eight null hypotheses and used a level of significance of .05 because of the sample size. This study found statistically significant relationships among educational expenditures, teacher salaries, and student TCAP scores in reading and mathematics. It did not find statistically significant differences in student achievement between school districts whose annual per-pupil expenditures were above or below the state median level of expenditures, with the exception of reading TVAAS scores