Abstract
Level of Performance and low-wealth School districts: a case study of North Carolina
A major source of controversy in educational policy is the extent to which there is a demonstrable correlation between educational expenditure and the quality of education as evident in the level of achievement of students. The issue is twofold: (1) the resources available, and (2) how the resources are spent. Educational equity is a primary goal in the North Carolina school system, but, it has proved elusive. The study was designed to answer the question ‘Are there factors other than wealth that account for the variations in student achievement in twenty-seven selected districts?’ The districts were selected by their categorisation in the North Carolina Report Card as high-performing or low-performing, on the basis of the district average Scholastic Assessment Test scores. Seventeen districts were high-performing while ten were low-performing, but all twenty-seven were designated as low-wealth.
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