Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Economics

Committee Chair

Santiago Pinto

Committee Co-Chair

Brian Cushing

Committee Member

Strat Douglas

Committee Member

Tami Gurley-Calvez

Committee Member

George Hammond

Abstract

Parents, lawmakers, and economists are all keenly interested in what affects student performance. This dissertation explores factors influencing student achievement in West Virginia with special attention devoted to public education resources and gender. Politicians and many parents of school age children believe increased levels of education funding or resources result in higher student achievement. Chapters 2 and 3 delve into this topic by exploring student achievement at different grade levels in West Virginia. The first public education funding or resource change to be analyzed occurred during a time period when the base for public education financing was expanding and funding levels were converging across school districts in the state. Data is a school-district level panel, including student achievement scores, from 1989 to 2002. The results suggest that rising expenditure levels may have had a positive effect on student achievement especially in areas with below average levels of spending prior to the policy change. The second.

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