Academic Performance in Texas Schools: Micro-econometric Models of Student Achievement

There is continuing need to analyze new evidence concerning school inputs and provide better measures of how different kinds of public expenditures in education map into outcomes that matter from society's point of view. This study provides an incremental step along this path by providing nonparametric and parametric measures of school input effects. It exploits a unique data set from Texas based on Academic Excellence Indicator System reports provided by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) from 1994 to 2002, supplemented by data from the Public Education Information Management System, which is TEA's statewide educational database. Nearly all research on student performance uses district level data. This study analyses student performance at both the district and the campus level. It also develops teacher variables that link teachers to students more directly. School output is measured using student pass rates and student mean scores, both in reference to the annual statewide exam called Texas Assessment of Academic Skills or TAAS. These outcome variables are examined by means of regression analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis, which links school inputs to multiple school outcomes.