Data on School Spending

Here is a table of data for my earlier blog posts on school spending in the US.

Methodology:

State per-pupil spending was calculated as the average of three years (2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005). This was to capture some of the effects of time; the effect of education on a student's performance is the result of several years of education.

Performance was taken from the 2005 administration of the NAEP, reading and math.

4th grade state average scores were used; this ensures that the measured spending period covers the majority of each tested student's educational career.

Source data comes from the "Nation's Report Card" (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/) and the US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/govs/www/school.html)

Pearson's r is .24 for math, .34 for reading; the correlations rise to .40 and .49 if we discard D.C. and compare just the 50 states

State	Per-pupil Instructional Spending	NAEP Math Score	Math Rank	NAEP Reading Score	Reading Rank
Alabama	3995.00	225	49	208	45
Alaska	5935.67	236	33 (tie)	211	42
Arizona	3401.00	230	43 (tie)	207	46 (tie)
Arkansas	4203.67	236	33 (tie)	217	32 (tie)
California	4752.67	230	43 (tie)	207	46 (tie)
Colorado	4293.67	239	24 (tie)	224	11
Connecticut	6792.00	242	9 (tie)	226	4 (tie)
Delaware	6340.00	240	20 (tie)	226	4 (tie)
District of Columbia	6222.67	211	51	191	51
Florida	4023.00	239	24 (tie)	219	28 (tie)
Georgia	4972.33	234	36 (tie)	214	38 (tie)
Hawaii	5156.67	230	43 (tie)	210	43
Idaho	3787.33	242	9 (tie)	222	18 (tie)
Illinois	5190.67	233	38 (tie)	216	35 (tie)
Indiana	5008.67	240	20 (tie)	218	30 (tie)
Iowa	4673.33	240	20 (tie)	221	20 (tie)
Kansas	4526.33	246	2 (tie)	220	25 (tie)
Kentucky	4138.67	231	41 (tie)	220	25 (tie)
Louisiana	4353.00	230	43 (tie)	209	44
Maine	6233.00	241	15 (tie)	225	7 (tie)
Maryland	5716.33	238	27 (tie)	220	25 (tie)
Massachusetts	6664.00	247	1	231	1
Michigan	5130.00	238	27 (tie)	218	30 (tie)
Minnesota	5425.00	246	2 (tie)	225	7 (tie)
Mississippi	3698.33	227	48	204	50
Missouri	4509.33	235	35	221	20 (tie)
Montana	4754.33	241	15 (tie)	225	7 (tie)
Nebraska	5114.67	238	27 (tie)	221	20 (tie)
Nevada	3992.67	230	43 (tie)	207	46 (tie)
New Hampshire	5578.67	246	2 (tie)	227	2 (tie)
New Jersey	7525.00	244	5 (tie)	223	12 (tie)
New Mexico	4100.00	224	50	207	46 (tie)
New York	8979.00	238	27 (tie)	223	12 (tie)
North Carolina	4301.67	241	15 (tie)	217	32 (tie)
North Dakota	4683.67	243	7 (tie)	225	7 (tie)
Ohio	5086.00	242	9 (tie)	223	12 (tie)
Oklahoma	3514.33	234	36 (tie)	214	38 (tie)
Oregon	4559.67	238	27 (tie)	217	32 (tie)
Pennsylvania	6056.33	241	15 (tie)	223	12 (tie)
Rhode Island	5938.67	233	38 (tie)	216	35 (tie)
South Carolina	4282.33	238	27 (tie)	213	41
South Dakota	4133.33	242	9 (tie)	222	18 (tie)
Tennessee	4198.67	232	40	214	38 (tie)
Texas	4314.67	242	9 (tie)	219	28 (tie)
Utah	3218.33	239	24 (tie)	221	20 (tie)
Vermont	6891.00	244	5 (tie)	227	2 (tie)
Virginia	5102.00	240	20 (tie)	226	4 (tie)
Washington	4388.33	242	9 (tie)	223	12 (tie)
West Virginia	5231.67	231	41 (tie)	215	37
Wisconsin	5714.67	241	15 (tie)	221	20 (tie)
Wyoming	5714.00	243	7 (tie)	223	12 (tie)

More School Spending Won't Help Your Schools

The charts show it, and the data prove it. In the US, more school spending won't increase your students' performance significantly (in most cases anyway).

Why? We'll talk about that another time.

Reading:

(NAEP reading scores from 2005 compared to average annual per-student instructional spending 2002-2005; each dot indicates a US state or the D.C. Red lines indicate "cut scores" for rating individual performance--Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. Click the image to see a larger version.)

Math:

(NAEP nath scores from 2005 compared to average annual per-student instructional spending 2002-2005; each dot indicates a US state or the D.C. Red lines indicate "cut scores" for rating individual performance--Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. Click the image to see a larger version.)

Data:
You can get the data I used from these US government web sites:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/school.html

See my earlier blog posts here and here
for a discussion of methodology.