Equity and Efficiency of Minnesota Educational Expenditures with a Focus on English Learners - A Retrospective Look in a Time of Accountability

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Policymakers and practitioners must balance equitable and efficient resource distribution under accountability pressures for strong student achievement. This paper examines equity and efficiency in Minnesota’s educational funding from 2003 through 2011, covering the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and Minnesota’s regulatory waiver. Equity is assessed via three distribution measures, while efficiency is operationalized using data envelope analysis to evaluate technical efficiency. Results show growing unevenness driven by low-spending districts, while efficiency remains relatively stable across years for English learners and overall.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Equity and efficiency definitions

Measurement approach

Findings and implications

| SPECIAL ISSUE | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Education Finance and English Language Learners | | | | | education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal | | | | | Arizona State University | | | | | Volume 25 Number 16 | February 27 , 2017 | | ISSN 1068-2341 | Equity and Efficiency of Minnesota Educational Expenditures with a Focus on English Learners, 2003-2011: A Retrospective Look in a Time of Accountability Nicola A. Alexander & Sung Tae Jang University of Minnesota United States Citation: Alexander, N. A., & Jang, S. T. (2017). Equity and efficiency of Minnesota educational expenditures with a focus on English learners, 2003-2011: A retrospective look in a time of accountability. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25(16). [http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2811](http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2811)[ ](http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2811)[This article is part of the special issue](This article is part of the special issue), [Education Finance and English Language Learners: Examining](Education Finance and English Language Learners: Examining)[ ](Education Finance and English Language Learners: Examining)Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Education Policy and Practice, Guest Edited by Oscar JiménezCastellanos. Abstract: Policymakers and practitioners often must balance distributing resources equitably and efficiently while being accountable for high student achievement. This paper focuses on these concepts as they relate to English learners and examines equity and efficiency in Minnesota’s educational funding from 2003 through 2011, the years spanning implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and Minnesota’s waiver from its regulations. Equity refers to the distribution of resources in the achievement of established goals (Alexander, 2012); efficiency entails the attainment of those goals using fewer resources (Rolle, 2004). We measure equity by looking at three standard distribution measures: (1) McCloone Index; (2) Verstegen Index; and (3) Coefficient of Variation (Odden & Picus, 2008) . We operationalize efficiency using data envelope analysis, thus getting at aspects of technical efficiency. We found that distribution of expenditures are increasingly uneven in the nine-year period examined. This inequality was largely driven by low-spending districts falling farther behind the median. Moreover, despite specific guidelines in its school finance formula that awarded additional resources for English learner populations, districts with higher portions of English learners have lower total and instructional expenditures per pupil, not higher. If more dollars are not available for EL programming, then doing more with less becomes paramount. Nevertheless, the efficiency of resource use was relatively constant over the years examined with efficiency in the use of education resources similar for English learners as it was for the population overall. Keywords: English learners; efficiency; equity; school finance Equidad y eficiencia de los gastos educativos de Minnesota con énfasis en los estudiantes de inglés, 2003-2011: Una mirada retrospectiva en un momento de rendición de cuentas Resumen: Los responsables de la formulación de políticas y los profesionales equilibran ladistribución de los recursos de manera equitativa y eficiente, al mismo tiempo que son responsables del alto rendimiento estudiantil. Este artículo se centra en estos conceptos, ya que se relacionan con los estudiantes de inglés y examina la equidad y la eficiencia en el financiamiento educativo de Minnesota de 2003 a 2011, los años que abarca la implementación de la ley No Child Left Behind. Equidad se refiere a la distribución de los recursos en el logro de los objetivos establecidos (Alexander, 2012); La eficiencia implica el logro de esos objetivos utilizando menos recursos (Rolle, 2004) . Medimos la equidad examinando tres medidas de distribución

FAQs

What does the paper mean by equity and efficiency in educational spending?

Equity refers to distributing resources to achieve established goals, while efficiency means achieving those goals with fewer resources.

How are equity and efficiency measured in the study?

Equity is measured using three distribution indices: McCloone Index, Verstegen Index, and Coefficient of Variation. Efficiency is assessed using data envelope analysis to examine technical efficiency.

What were the main findings for Minnesota from 2003 to 2011?

Expenditure distribution became increasingly uneven over the period, driven mainly by low-spending districts falling further behind the median. However, efficiency in using educational resources remained relatively constant over time for English learners and the population overall.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag