Instructional expenditures and student achievement: a multiyear statewide analysis

In this investigation, we examined the extent to which instructional expenditures were related to student academic achievement for students enrolled in Texas public schools for the 2005–2006 through the 2009–2010 school years. Student performance on the state-mandated assessments for all school districts in Texas for these five school years was analyzed as a function of school district instructional expenditure ratio group (i.e., less than 55, 55–57.49, 57.5–59.99, 60–62.49, 62.5–65, and 65 % and higher). Statistically significant differences were present in reading, math, writing, science, and social studies passing rates for all five school years. As the instructional expenditure ratio increased, student achievement increased, especially in math and science. Further, when pairwise groups were analyzed, school districts in the 55–57.49 % group consistently scored lower than other groups for all 5 years. School districts with higher instructional expenditure ratios consistently had higher student achievement results than districts with lower instructional expenditure ratios. Implications of our findings for policy are provided.