High need rural school district success indicators: A study of economic factors in New York State

The purpose of this study was to determine if high need/rural school districts in New York State classified as Reward school districts by the New York State Education Department receive more than expected financial support in the form of the local tax levy and apply a significantly different level of their financial resources to administrative functions compared to school districts not identified as Reward school districts. High need/rural school districts are identified as such by the New York State Education Department based on district wealth measures and population sparsity. Reward school districts are identified on an annual basis by exceeding goals on a series of seven achievement measures. Controversy exists as to whether small rural high need school districts have the economic capacity to provide an adequate and cost-effective education. This study attempted to determine if communities with schools that earn Reward status provide more local financial resources to their school districts through proportionally larger tax levies. Second, there is a general public perception that rural school districts spend a proportionally larger amount of total spending on administrative functions. This study attempted to determine if High Need/Rural Reward school districts spend a significantly different proportion of their overall budgets on administrative functions than school districts that do not earn Reward status