Problemas identificados en la empresa

A series of descriptive statistical treatments were used to analyze the data collected in this study. The data were analyzed using SPSS Version 14.0 (2006). The following statistical procedures were utilized:

• Cross-tabulation;

• Measure of central tendency (Mean);

• Variability (Range, Inter-quartile Analysis, Standard Deviation).

Cross-tabulation

A cross-tabs analysis was used to produce a descriptive report for the following variables as obtained from survey respondents:

• Job title of respondents;

• Years in position of respondents;

• Highest degree earned by respondents; • K-12 FTE enrollment of respondent districts;

• Annual general fund budget per pupil of respondent districts; • Annual general fund expenditure per pupil in respondent districts; • Enrollment trend data in respondent districts; and

• Annual AYP performance as reported by the respondent districts’ report cards.

This analysis allowed these data to be ordered, simplified, and reported by general distributions and other descriptive trends.

Measure of Central Tendency: Mean

A mean score was calculated for each expenditure associated with the districts’ responses to the following NCLB mandates:

• accountability for student achievement; • more choices for parents;

• emphasis on reading; • emphasis on math;

• hiring highly qualified teachers; and • teaching English to all students.

Means of expenditures having the highest financial impact and lowest financial impact on all school districts and the inter-quartile groupings of school districts were found and reported according to each mandate (see description of inter- quartile analysis in next section below). An overall list of expenditures ranging from highest impact to lowest impact was also reported for all districts and for the inter-quartile analysis.

Variability

In addition to the mean measure of central tendency just described, several other approaches to assessing data variability were used in this study to determine how responses to survey questions varied, thereby aiding in

constructing a narrative analysis of the likely financial impact of NCLB on Kansas school districts. Measures of variability included the range, analysis by quartiles (inter-quartile analysis), and standard deviation for selected variables.

Range

The simplest measure of variability is the range. The range is the measurement of the width of an entire distribution of scores. It is found by

calculating the difference between the highest and lowest scores. A limitation of the range is that it is based on the two most extreme scores. The range was found for each school district’s responses to survey questions assessing:

• the respondent’s years of experience; • the district’s size of enrollment;

• the district’s annual operating budget per pupil; and • the district’s annual general fund expenditure per pupil.

Inter-Quartile Analysis

To account for possible influence on survey responses that might have derived from district enrollment size, an inter-quartile analysis was also utilized: (e.g., differential responses from districts such as Prairie Heights USD 295 with only 49 students, and Wichita USD 259 with fully 45,462 students may have affected the nature of data results by failing to represent the ‘typical’ Kansas school district on the basis of enrollment size). The inter-quartile analysis used only the middle 50% of subjects responding to the survey—i.e., the inter-quartile measure effectively functioned as a highly restricted range measure by ignoring any outliers that may have had an inaccurate effect on the overall set of survey responses. The inter-quartile analysis provided an alternative view of the data in

context of the wide enrollment variability typically found among Kansas public schools. Variables measured by the inter-quartile analysis included:

• accountability for student achievement; • provision of educational choices for parents; • effective teaching methods;

• emphasis on reading; • emphasis on math;

• hiring highly qualified teachers; and • teaching English to all students.

Standard Deviation

The standard deviation was utilized as a final measure of variability to inform the present study. The standard deviation is a measure indicating how much the scores in a distribution deviate from the mean. The standard deviation was applied to each case where the mean was found in order to have an

additional interpretation of the survey responses (i.e., understanding and interpreting the similarities and differences in NCLB’s impact on Kansas school district budgeting needs).

Summary

School finance and federal mandates are current pressing concerns facing the Kansas legislature and ultimately local school boards and administrators, and it is likely these issues will continue to be relevant far into the future. At the time of this writing, the Kansas legislature had responded to demands for more money under a state supreme court order and its own Legislative Post Audit study

(2006) by adding $755 million for public schools through the fiscal 2009 school year. Yet the context of the state’s inability to raise any significant amount of money without the potentially devastating political impact of increasing taxes in a frequently anti-tax climate have caused these issues to continue to press school districts to simultaneously deliver both low cost services and high student

achievement—a heavy load raising specters of failure under the ever increasing accountability demands of NCLB.