County Indicators of Educational Performance

["Paskowitz, Steve" <SPaskowitz@ci.berkeley.ca.us>]

Please advise me whether there are ideas here relevant for publication
regarding the Center for Accountability and Performance.  Thanks for your
assistance.

Educational Ecology:
County Indicators of the Social Environment of County Educational
Performance

Steven Paskowitz, Ed.D.


ABSTRACT

		There is a wide disparity in educational performance among
California counties.  Over 200 points separated the highest from the lowest
county average SAT score in 1996.  There was greater than 36% difference in
the percent of county students taking the SAT exam.  The lowest county had
nine times the dropout rate of the highest county.  The disparity in county
educational performance was largely explained by county social conditions.
Unemployment and poverty, and to a lesser extent alcohol availability and
crime, were important factors in explaining these county differences.
Correlational analyses demonstrated the strength of relationship among
county social conditions.  Regression analysis computed the contribution of
each social condition toward each county educational performance measure.
Cross-validation analysis determined that county social conditions are
strong predictors of county educational performance.  The conclusion was
that there is an educational ecology that influences county educational
performance.  This research is important in demonstrating the extent to
which conditions beyond the jurisdiction of county school boards influence
educational outcomes.  Institutional collaboration is necessary to address
the social conditions that adversely affect county educational performance.




_____
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@raw.rutgers.edu and include the following command in the body of the message:
unsubscribe apmg your-email-address
Or use the form at http://raw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/lwgate/apmg/unsubscribe.html