School Spending and Student Achievement: Mechanisms

Abstract

School spending reliably improves student achievement. Stakeholders, researchers, and policymakers now need to shift from asking whether to how money matters. This systematic review of the literature focuses on factors that explain or mediate the relationship between K-12 school spending and student achievement in the United States. We examine literature on whether there are different returns to spending on operations, capital, average teacher salaries, teachers per 100 students, and instructional spending. The review indicates that both capital and operational spending, particularly spending on instruction and teacher salaries, help explain the relationship between school spending and achievement. However, this review also highlights the need for more studies examining how money matters for student outcomes.