An edition of The money myth (2009)

The money myth

school resources, outcomes, and equity

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Last edited by MARC Bot
November 30, 2023 | History
An edition of The money myth (2009)

The money myth

school resources, outcomes, and equity

  • 0 Ratings
  • 1 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

Can money buy high-quality education? Studies find only a weak relationship between public school funding and educational outcomes. In this book, the author proposes a powerful paradigm shift in the way we think about why some schools thrive and others fail. The greatest inequalities in America's schools lie in factors other than fiscal support. Fundamental differences in resources other than money, for example, in leadership, instruction, and tracking policies explain the deepening divide in the success of our nation's schoolchildren. This book establishes several principles for a bold new approach to education reform. Drawing on a national longitudinal dataset collected over twelve years, the author makes a crucial distinction between "simple" resources and those "compound", "complex", and "abstract" resources that cannot be readily bought.

Money can buy simple resources such as higher teacher salaries and smaller class sizes, but these resources are actually some of the weakest predictors of educational outcomes. On the other hand, complex resources pertaining to school practices are astonishingly strong predictors of success. The author finds that tracking policies have the most profound and consistent impact on student outcomes over time. Schools often relegate low performing students, particularly minorities, to vocational, remedial, and special education tracks. So even in well funded schools, resources may never reach the students who need them most. He also finds that innovation in the classroom has a critical impact on student success. Here, too, America's schools are stratified.

Teachers in underperforming schools tend to devote significant amounts of time to administration and discipline, while instructors in highly ranked schools dedicate the bulk of their time to "engaged learning", using varied pedagogical approaches. Effective schools distribute leadership among many instructors and administrators, and they foster a sense of both trust and accountability. These schools have a clear mission and coherent agenda for reaching goals. Underperforming schools, by contrast, implement a variety of fragmented reforms and practices without developing a unified plan. This phenomenon is perhaps most powerfully visible in the negative repercussions of No Child Left Behind. In a frantic attempt to meet federal standards and raise test scores quickly, more and more schools are turning to scripted "off the shelf" curricula.

These practices discourage student engagement, suppress teacher creativity, and hold little promise of improving learning beyond the most basic skills. This work shows that infusions of money alone won't eradicate inequality in America's schools. We need to address the vast differences in the way school communities operate. By looking beyond school finance, this work gets to the core reasons why education in America is so unequal and provides clear recommendations for addressing this chronic national problem.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
400

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The money myth
The money myth: school resources, outcomes, and equity
2009, Russell Sage Foundation
in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Moving beyond money : the variety of educational resources
Multiple resources, multiple outcomes : testing the improved school finance with NELS88
When money does matter : explaining the weak effects of school funding
Families as resources : the effects of family background and demographic variables
Students as resources : the effects of connectedness to schooling
Equity and inequality : from static to dynamic conceptions
Dynamic inequality : schooling outcomes over time
Correcting dynamic inequality in practice : exploring what schools do for low-performing students
Making resources matter : implications for school-level practice
Supporting the improved school finance : district, state, and federal roles
The implications of the improved school finance for litigation
The implications for reform : conceptions of schooling and the role of the welfare state.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
370.110973
Library of Congress
LB2825 .G838 2009

The Physical Object

Pagination
p. cm.
Number of pages
400

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL17101536M
Internet Archive
moneymythschoolr00grub
ISBN 13
9780871543660
LCCN
2008036248
OCLC/WorldCat
244246657
Library Thing
8321068
Goodreads
6130428

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
November 30, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
February 14, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
July 22, 2017 Edited by Mek adding subject: In library
August 15, 2011 Edited by ImportBot import new book
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page