Structural influences on the internal allocation of school district resources: Evidence from New York State

By drawing an explicit distinction between "base " and "share " effects, th is study examines the potential for inconsistent resource allocation decisi ons to be made at different administrative levels of school districts and s chools. The,work builds on the Consortium for Policy Research in Education' s "What Dollars Buy' " project and employs multivariate models to examine t he influences of school district spending, wealth, poverty: and size on int ernal decisions about how to divide staffing resources across different are as of the curriculum. Results indicate that there is more internal variatio n across districts in how teacher resources are distributed than is commonl y supposed The study also reveals evidence of inconsistency across levels o f decision making about the supply of resources into particular areas of th e curriculum. Finally: there is evidence of stronger than expected relation ships between spending levels and allocations of resources into administrat ive uses.