Major and Classification
Public Policy, Planning, and Development
Faculty Mentor
Morgan Polikoff, PhD., Associate Professor of Education
Department
Price: Public Policy
Research Gateway Project
“Resource Disparities in Rural and Urban Public Education Systems and its Impact on Student Achievement”
Project Abstract
This is a quantitative and qualitative case study of public high schools in California examining resource disparities between rural and urban high schools to determine how they affect student achievement. Using income and locale, I established four school categories: low income rural, low income urban, high income urban, high income rural. In the quantitative section of my research, I identified ten schools in each category and provided a comparative profile of their resources and student outcome. Through qualitative methods, I interviewed 11 individuals to determine resources available to students in eight high schools across these four school categories. Analysis of the collected data from both methods reveal that while student achievement is more affected by income than locale, it is the interaction of high income and urban that produces the highest student achievement. Results from qualitative methods also indicate that urban schools attribute success in student achievement to professional teacher development, whereas rural schools attribute success to numbers of counselors and personnel.