The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between level of funding and achievement of school systems in Tennessee based on the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. This study focused on Tennessee school systems and their adequate yearly progress (AYP) status of targeted or good standing from 2007 through 2009. Federal, state, and local funding, as well as per-pupil expenditure, average teacher salary, and number of students, were used as variables. All data were gathered from the Tennessee Department of Education website.
The researcher performed 6 independent samples t-tests and one chi square analysis. The study showed significant differences in the means of federal, state, and local funding levels between targeted systems and systems in good standing. Targeted systems received more federal, state, and local funding than systems in good standing from 2007 through 2009. The study showed no significant difference in mean per-pupil expenditures between targeted systems and systems in good standing. The study showed a significant difference in the mean teacher salaries. Targeted systems had higher teacher salaries than systems in good standing from 2007 through 2009. The study also showed a significant difference in the mean number of students between targeted systems and systems in good standing. Targeted systems had more students than systems in good standing.
The findings indicate that targeted systems are receiving as much funding as systems in good standing. To help control for the number of students in each system, the two groups (targeted and in good standing) were compared using per-pupil federal, state and local dollars. The analysis indicated no significant difference between targeted systems and systems in good standing for federal money. The analysis did indicate a significant difference between the two groups for state and local money. However, for state money systems in good standing had the higher mean and for local money, targeted systems had the higher mean. Mean per-pupil expenditures were relatively equal between targeted systems and systems in good standing. System size, based on the number of students, showed a significant relationship with the NCLB status of a system. The mean number of students in targeted systems was more than 3 times as large as systems in good standing (17,656 to 5,284). Also, a group of systems with over 4,445 students had over 5 times the number of targeted systems than a group of systems with fewer than 2,094 students
