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19
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
The United States spends $600 billion annually on K-12 education with the noble
goal of providing an education to even the poorest of citizens so that they may achieve
the American Dream (Hanushek & Lindseth, 2009). The prime education goal,
according to Odden (2009), is to educate these students to rigorous performance levels by
having students learn to “world class” standards. To this end, a variety of far-reaching
education reforms have taken root in the United States in the past two decades. This is
not to suggest, however, that education was a forgotten priority of past generations
because the reality is that much of the groundwork for today’s reforms are rooted in the
quest for equity and adequacy in how schools are funded and how they deliver education
to all students.
This chapter draws on lessons learned from history, educational research and
current events to support this study and its goals. The first section of this chapter focuses
on history by providing a brief summary of the court cases and legislation that have
impacted educational funding and reform efforts on the national level. An outline of the
key court rulings and political actions that have occurred in California is also provided.
The second section describes the shift from educational equity to adequacy in school
finance and discusses the four approaches to costing-out an adequate education.
Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the details of the Evidence-Based Model
(Odden & Picus, 2008), as it is the basis for comparison throughout this study. The third
section breaks down the funding structure and resource allocation in the world of
education—where the money for education originates and how it arrives at districts and
Object Description
| Title | Navigating troubled waters: case studies of three California high schools' resource allocation strategies in 2010-2011 |
| Author | Landisi, Brian Anthony |
| Author email | landisi@usc.edu; blandisi@charter.net |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-28 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-28 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Picus, Lawrence O. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Hentschke, Guilbert C. Nelson, John L. |
| Abstract | This study was conducted to examine instructional strategies and resource allocation in successful schools. The study was based on the analysis of three comprehensive high schools in one school district in Southern California. Each of the study schools increased students’ academic achievement over time as measured by sustained growth on California’s Academic Performance Index. The efforts of these study schools also contributed to narrowing the achievement gap.; Successful schools in this study were analyzed primarily through the lens of Odden’s (2009) 10 Strategies for Doubling Student Performance. In addition to effective organizational and instructional strategies, this study also analyzed human and fiscal resource allocation at the sample schools. The study used the Evidence-Based Model (Odden & Picus, 2008) to analyze how the schools allocated resources during 2010-2011, navigating a catastrophic economic crisis facing California and the rest of the nation. Interview data, student achievement data and information on school-level resource use were included in case studies on each of these successful schools.; The findings indicate that although the resource use patterns of the study schools were significantly fewer than what the Evidence-Based Model suggests, the improvement strategies showed many commonalities to those suggested in the body of literature on school improvement. Strong leadership from the district office supported the reform efforts at each of the school sites. This leadership came in the form of a single district focus combined with continuity of leadership, development and retention of talent within the district and a common school improvement framework.; A heavy investment of time and fiscal resources into professional development created a collaborative culture within and between the high schools in the study. The schools that were most successful in raising student achievement demonstrated a commitment to collaboration and embraced the role of teacher leaders. The most effective schools in the study had in place internal accountability structures to support the implementation of the school and district focus. It is the effective implementation of research-based strategies, not simply resource allocation that makes schools successful and contributes to further growth in student achievement. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. |
| Keyword | education finance; secondary education; educational leadership; budget crisis; instructional leadership; Odden and Picus; resource allocation; school finance; school reform |
| Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 2010/2011 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3797 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Landisi, Brian Anthony |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Landisi-4355 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-Landisi-4355.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 31 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 19 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW The United States spends $600 billion annually on K-12 education with the noble goal of providing an education to even the poorest of citizens so that they may achieve the American Dream (Hanushek & Lindseth, 2009). The prime education goal, according to Odden (2009), is to educate these students to rigorous performance levels by having students learn to “world class” standards. To this end, a variety of far-reaching education reforms have taken root in the United States in the past two decades. This is not to suggest, however, that education was a forgotten priority of past generations because the reality is that much of the groundwork for today’s reforms are rooted in the quest for equity and adequacy in how schools are funded and how they deliver education to all students. This chapter draws on lessons learned from history, educational research and current events to support this study and its goals. The first section of this chapter focuses on history by providing a brief summary of the court cases and legislation that have impacted educational funding and reform efforts on the national level. An outline of the key court rulings and political actions that have occurred in California is also provided. The second section describes the shift from educational equity to adequacy in school finance and discusses the four approaches to costing-out an adequate education. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the details of the Evidence-Based Model (Odden & Picus, 2008), as it is the basis for comparison throughout this study. The third section breaks down the funding structure and resource allocation in the world of education—where the money for education originates and how it arrives at districts and |
