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School Employee Compensation and Student
Outcomes Washingtons Basic Education Finance
Joint Task Force Washington Educational
Research Association SeaTac March 27, 2008
Steve Aos and Annie Pennucci Washington State
Institute for Public Policy Phone (360)
586-2740 E-mail saos_at_wsipp.wa.gov,
pennuccia_at_wsipp.wa.gov Institute Publications
www.wsipp.wa.gov
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Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Created by the 1983 Washington Legislature
Mission carry out non-partisan research on
projects assigned by the legislature or the
Institutes Board of Directors

• Representative Glenn Anderson Secretary Robin
  Arnold-Williams, DSHS
• Senator Karen Fraser Director Victor Moore, OFM
• Representative Phyllis Kenney Sandra Archibald,
  University of Washington
• Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles Andrew Bodman,
  Western Washington Univ.
• Representative Skip Priest Les Purce, The
  Evergreen State College
• Senator Pam Roach Robert Rosenman, Washington
  State Univ.
• Senator Mark Schoesler Ken Conte, House Office
  of Program Research
• Representative Helen Sommers Richard Rodger,
  Senate Committee Services

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The Basic Education Finance Task Force was
established in 2007 with SB 5627
Chair Dan Grimm Representative Glenn Anderson Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson Senator Lisa Brown School Board President Cheryl Chow Director Laurie Dolan Senator Mike Hewitt Senator Janea Holmquist Representative Ross Hunter Superintendent Bette Hyde Superintendent Jim Kowalkowski Representative Skip Priest Representative Pat Sullivan Senator Rodney Tom Representative Kathy Haigh Representative Fred Jarrett

Meetings September 10, 2007 October 22, 2007 November 19 20, 2007 December 13, 2007 January 11, 2008March 24, 2008 April 14-15, 2008 May 5-6, 2008 June 9-10, 2008 July 7-8, 2008 August 6, 2008 September 15-16, 2008 October 14-15, 2008 November 17-18, 2008 December 8-9, 2008

www.leg.wa.gov/Joint/Committees/BEF
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Legislative Direction

• Legislative Direction to Task Force
• Review definition of basic education and develop
  new funding formulas.
• The funding structure should reflect the most
  effective instructional strategies and service
  delivery models and be based on research-proven
  education programs and activities with
  demonstrated cost benefits. The funding
  structure should be linked to accountability for
  student outcomes and performance.
• Legislative Direction to WSIPP
• include a projection of the expected effect of
  the investment made under the new funding
  structure.

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Student Outcomes Graduation
On Time High School Graduation Rates
United States 1870 to 2004, Washington 1970 to
2004 (The percent of 17-18 year olds that
graduate from high school)
Source United States Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics. WSIPP
adjusted pre-1970 US estimates. All rates
calculated with NCES method. The rates shown are
five-year averages.
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Student Outcomes Graduation and WASL

High School Graduation WASL Met-Standard
Rates (by Income Level and Ethnicity)
2007 Math WASL
2007 Reading WASL
2005 High School
"Met-Standard" Rates
"Met-Standard" Rates
Graduation Rates
87
87
80
85
78
78
65
68
68
61
66
60
63
62
60
55
56
31
30
26
23
Low In- come
Low In- come
Non-
AI
Asian
Black
His-
White
Low In- come
Non-
AI
Asian
Black
His-
White
Non-
AI
Asian
Black
His-
White
low
AN
PI
panic
low
AN
PI
panic
low
AN
PI
panic
PI, AI, and AN are OSPI ethnic groupings for
Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaskan
Natives. Source OSPI.
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Student Outcomes Test Scores
Washington Compared to Other States
National Assessment of Educational Progress
Scores (Unadjusted), 2005
8th Grade Math
Scale Score
Percent Proficient or Better
Percentage Proficient or Higher
Source United States Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics.
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Student Outcomes College Work
High School Graduates During the First Year
Following Graduation
Source OSPI, from administrative data merges
conducted by Washington State Universitys Social
and Economic Sciences Research Center. .
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The Phrase Research Proven Implies Effect
Sizes A metric used by researchers to measure
the magnitude of a relationship.
K-12 Resource (e.g. per pupil , summer school,
prof. devel., etc.)
Student Outcome (e.g. test scores, high school
grad)
Effect Size
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WSIPPs Approach to Research Proven

What Works to Improve Education Outcomes?
2. She applies standards of evidence to
identify the high quality studies
3. She analyzes all of the higher quality
studies to estimate an average effect
1. WSIPP researcher gathers all the studies she
or he can locate on a topic
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Example Research Finding Effective Teachers
Raise Student Outcomes Consistently
Research ApproachWe located and analyzed 29
results from 13 high quality studies on this
topic.
Preliminary FindingA teacher 1 standard
deviation above average in effectiveness can
boost student test scores from .1 to .4 standard
deviation units per year.Best estimate .18
std. dev. units(about a 6 point gain on WASL
reading or math tests).
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Effect Size in Standard Deviation Units on
Student Test Scores
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Now suppose we found a K-12 program that raised
student achievement by One Standard Deviation
Effect Sizes as Standard Deviation Units

• Effect Sizes and Standard Deviation Units are the
  main metrics used by education (and other)
  researchers to summarize findings.
• In education research Effect Sizes Standard
  Deviation Units.

A Normal Distribution
Now lets get a bit more real. We found that an
effective teacher boosts one year student
achievement by .18 Standard Deviations
15.9
12
2.3
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Washingtons K-12 Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE)
Trends and Ranking Among the States 1970 to 2005
Inflation-Adjusted PPE (in 2005 dollars)
Washingtons Ranking Among States
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Data are for
academic years 1969-70 to 2004-05. The
Comparable Wage Index used here is a composite of
the Comparable Wage Index by Lori Taylor (2007)
and the General Wage Index by Dan Goldhaber
(1999). On the left-hand chart, the CPI is used
for the general inflation adjustment.
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Does spending more money in the current systems
raise student outcomes?
Before Considering Controlled Studies, Here are
Raw Data for National Test Scores and PPE
Change in NAEP score
Change in Data, 2003 to 2005
Unadjusted 2005 Data
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Test score data
are for NAEP 8th grade reading test scores. The
Comparable Wage Index developed by Lori Taylor
(2007) for NCES was used in the change in
CWI-adjusted PPE model shown here.
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Does Spending More Money in the Current Finance
System Raise Student Outcomes?
Research ApproachWe located and analyzed 46
results from 23 high quality studies on this
topic.
Preliminary FindingA 10 percent increase in
average per pupil expenditures raises student
test scores by about .007 standard deviation
units per year, per grade.
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Projected Statewide High School Graduation
Ratesfor a 10 percent increase inper-pupil
expenditures (PPE) in the current funding
system
Preliminary Projection
A 10 Increase in PPE could add about 1.3
percentage points to the graduation rate.
Graduation Rate
Current OSPI On-Time High School Graduation Rate
in Washington 74.3
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Do Teachers With Graduate Degrees Affect Student
Outcomes?
Research ApproachWe located and analyzed 34
results from 13 high quality studies on this
topic.
Preliminary FindingNo. We are investigating
whether in-subject graduate degrees affect
outcomes.
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Does a Teachers Experience Affect Student
Outcomes?
Research ApproachWe located and analyzed 42
results from 15 high quality studies on this
topic.
Draft Estimates of the Effect of Years of Teacher
Experience onStudent Test Scores
0.10
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
Preliminary FindingMost of the gains occur in
the early years of teaching.
Effect Size Relative to Teacher With No
Experience
(standard deviation units)
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
0
5
10
15
20
Years of Teaching Experience
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Topics Under Consideration by the Task Force
Graduate degrees Experience In-subject
degrees Comparable wages Regional cost-of-living
adjustments Differential pay for high demand
skills Pay for performance, knowledge,
skills Salary versus per-pupil allocation
models Professional development
School year length School day length School
calendar All day kindergarten Extra funding for
low-income students Summer school Early
learning Class size Health and safety
requirements Non-employee related costs Career
and technical education
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The Institute's December 2007 Report to the
Basic Education Finance Joint Task
Forcewww.leg.wa.gov/Joint/Committees/BEF/