40% weighted adjustment for students in poverty
In 2007-08, there was a 8.8 percent difference between the highest-poverty districts ($13,635) and lowest-poverty districts ($12,534) in the current expenditures minus federal revenue (other than Impact Aid) per pupil in membership in Massachusetts.
Unweighted adjustment for students in poverty
In 2007-08, there was a 19.9 percent difference between the highest-poverty districts ($15,205) and lowest-poverty districts ($12,685) in the current expenditures minus federal revenue (other than Impact Aid) per pupil in membership in Massachusetts.
NOTE: Percent difference was calculated by dividing the difference between expenditures in the highest-poverty districts from that in lowest-poverty districts by the expenditures in lowest-poverty districts. A positive percentage indicates that the highest-poverty districts spent more money per pupil than the lowest-poverty districts. A negative percentage indicates that the highest-poverty districts spent less money per pupil than the lowest-poverty districts.
Based on an assumption that additional per-pupil spending is appropriate to meet the additional needs of students in poverty, the Dashboard indicator weights the number of poor students, defaulting to a factor of 40% (taken from the Department's Title I formula) when calculating per-pupil expenditures. Users may use alternative weights, including no additional weight, if they prefer.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, unpublished tabulations based on U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, "Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates," 1997–98 and 2007–08; and U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 1997–98 and 2007–08.