The Education Week Research Center has identified an error in the school finance analysis it conducted for Quality Counts 2016, published as the Jan. 7 issue of Education Week and online. Although the resulting corrections are generally minor, the changes to three specific school finance indicators involve all states. Grades and rankings for the school finance category and the overall grades are also affected to a lesser degree.
INDICATORS
The corrections affected three indicators that are subcomponents of the school finance category results.
INDICATOR 1: Spending Index
The corrected value for the Spending Index indicator is 89.3 for the nation and is slightly lower than originally reported for seven states.
Corrected State Values, Spending Index
- Georgia, 86.2
- Indiana, 84.3
- Oregon, 85.7
- Rhode Island, 99.9
- South Carolina, 86.3
- Texas, 79.2
- Wisconsin, 96.8
The corrections resulted in Spending Index ranking shifts for five states.
Corrected State Rankings, Spending Index
- Kansas, 25
- Massachusetts, 9
- New Jersey, 8
- Rhode Island, 10
- Washington, 26
INDICATOR 2: Percent of Students in Districts with Per-Pupil Expenditures at or Above U.S. Average
For the indicator capturing the percent of students in districts where per-pupil expenditures reach or exceed the U.S. average, the corrected national value is 39.8 percent, with revised values lower than previously reported for 36 states.
Corrected State Values, Percent of Students in Districts with PPE at or Above U.S. Average
- Alabama, 5.1
- Arkansas, 13.0
- California, 8.2
- Colorado, 12.5
- Florida, 0.7
- Georgia , 16.3
- Illinois, 73.1
- Indiana, 14.1
- Iowa, 16.8
- Kansas, 24.2
- Kentucky, 13.7
- Louisiana, 41.6
- Maine, 76.5
- Massachusetts, 99.4
- Michigan, 22.6
- Minnesota, 39.2
- Missouri, 12.7
- Montana, 33.0
- New Hampshire , 78.7
- New Mexico, 12.3
- North Carolina, 4.0
- North Dakota, 65.5
- Ohio, 40.5
- Oklahoma, 2.8
- Oregon, 9.2
- Pennsylvania, 91.8
- Rhode Island, 95.2
- South Carolina, 13.2
- South Dakota, 10.7
- Texas, 10.1
- Utah, 1.0
- Vermont, 84.1
- Virginia, 67.2
- Washington, 21.9
- West Virginia, 38.0
- Wisconsin, 57.4
For the indicator capturing the percent of students in districts where per-pupil expenditures reach or exceed the U.S. average, the corrections resulted in ranking shifts for 26 states.
Corrected State Rankings, Percent of Students in Districts with PPE at or Above U.S. Average
- Alaska, 10
- California, 42
- Florida, 51
- Indiana, 31
- Iowa, 29
- Kansas, 26
- Kentucky, 32
- Louisiana, 20
- Massachusetts, 9
- Michigan, 27
- Minnesota, 23
- Mississippi, 49
- Missouri, 35
- Nebraska, 21
- Nevada, 41
- New Jersey, 8
- New Mexico, 37
- Ohio, 22
- Oregon, 40
- Rhode Island, 11
- South Carolina, 33
- South Dakota, 38
- Texas, 39
- Utah, 50
- Washington, 28
- West Virginia, 24
INDICATOR 3: Adjusted Per-Pupil Expenditures
Corrections for adjusted per-pupil expenditures place the national value at $11,841, with revised levels higher than initially reported for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Corrected State Values, Adjusted PPE
- Alabama, $9,743
- Alaska, $18,841
- Arizona, $7,733
- Arkansas, $11,263
- California, $8,339
- Colorado, $9,120
- Connecticut, $15,569
- Delaware, $13,775
- District of Columbia, $14,297
- Florida, $9,231
- Georgia, $9,288
- Hawaii, $12,425
- Idaho, $8,284
- Illinois, $12,007
- Indiana, $11,093
- Iowa, $12,254
- Kansas, $11,452
- Kentucky, $10,562
- Louisiana, $11,434
- Maine, $14,523
- Maryland, $12,679
- Massachusetts, $13,546
- Michigan, $12,188
- Minnesota, $11,858
- Mississippi, $9,492
- Missouri, $10,928
- Montana, $13,322
- Nebraska, $13,833
- Nevada, $8,294
- New Hampshire, $14,718
- New Jersey, $15,742
- New Mexico, $9,913
- New York, $17,548
- North Carolina, $8,867
- North Dakota, $13,448
- Ohio, $12,018
- Oklahoma, $8,767
- Oregon, $10,532
- Pennsylvania, $14,197
- Rhode Island, $14,281
- South Carolina, $10,617
- South Dakota, $10,798
- Tennessee, $8,958
- Texas, $8,075
- Utah, $7,084
- Vermont, $19,134
- Virginia, $10,044
- Washington, $9,383
- West Virginia, $12,855
- Wisconsin, $12,031
- Wyoming, $17,513
CATEGORY: School Finance
After corrections, the national school finance score becomes 74.4 points out of 100, with the U.S. grade remaining a C. Scores are lower than originally reported for 30 states.
Corrected State Scores, School Finance
- Alabama, 69.4
- Arkansas, 72.5
- California, 66.4
- Colorado, 68.6
- Florida, 68.3
- Georgia, 70.0
- Illinois, 78.2
- Indiana, 72.0
- Iowa, 73.7
- Kansas, 74.7
- Kentucky, 72.1
- Maine, 83.5
- Massachusetts, 83.0
- Michigan, 73.4
- Minnesota, 75.5
- Montana, 70.7
- New Hampshire , 78.4
- New Mexico, 68.7
- North Carolina, 66.2
- North Dakota, 77.9
- Ohio, 74.6
- Oregon, 69.1
- Pennsylvania, 84.9
- Rhode Island, 85.8
- South Carolina, 70.9
- South Dakota, 66.1
- Virginia, 76.8
- Washington, 71.1
- West Virginia, 81.9
- Wisconsin, 80.3
The finance grade has changed for only four states—Arkansas, California, Oregon, and West Virginia—in each case dropping by half a letter grade.
Corrected State Grades, School Finance
- Arkansas, C-
- California, D
- Oregon, D+
- West Virginia, B-
The corrections resulted in a school finance ranking shift for 13 states.
Corrected State Rankings, School Finance
- Alabama, 34
- Indiana, 28
- Iowa, 23
- Kansas, 20
- Michigan, 24
- New Jersey, 5
- North Carolina, 42
- Ohio, 21
- Oregon, 35
- Rhode Island, 6
- South Carolina, 30
- South Dakota, 43
- Washington, 29
OVERALL: Summative
After corrections, the overall grade for Quality Counts 2016 changes for just one state. Wisconsin’s grade becomes a C-plus, a half-letter-grade lower than originally reported. Revised overall scores are slightly lower in 23 states.
Corrected State Scores, Summative
- Alabama, 68.1
- Arkansas, 69.8
- Colorado, 74.5
- Georgia, 71.9
- Illinois, 76.6
- Indiana, 74.9
- Kansas, 73.8
- Maine, 78.5
- Michigan, 71.7
- Minnesota, 79.6
- Missouri, 72.2
- New Mexico, 65.8
- North Dakota, 77.1
- Ohio, 74.7
- Oregon, 70.2
- Pennsylvania, 80.5
- Rhode Island, 78.9
- South Carolina, 69.6
- South Dakota, 70.3
- Virginia, 79.2
- Washington, 74.9
- West Virginia, 71.8
- Wisconsin, 79.4
Changes in rankings occurred for nine states.
Corrected State Rankings, Summative
- Alaska, 20
- Arkansas, 40
- California, 41
- Georgia, 33
- Indiana, 21
- South Carolina, 43
- Texas, 42
- Washington, 22
- West Virginia, 34