Long abstract

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For many years the school system in the United States has measured success by the number of dollars spent, computers and textbooks purchased, and programs created. Moreover, the measures of success have not focused on academic achievement. Since 1965, American taxpayers have spent more than $321 billion in federal funds on kindergarten through 12th grade public education, yet the average reading scores for 17-year-olds have not improved since the 1970s, according to the U.S. Department of Education.1 In an era where standards, testing and accountability are at the forefront of debate in the education community, parents, educators, administrators, legislators and stakeholders require an objective way of ascertaining the progress of public schools throughout the United States. 2. The research presented in this paper relates data on school performance and educational spending in ways that allow for an assessment of the productivity of school systems. While the data being utilised relate to the United States only, the methodology being proposed also would lend itself to comparisons of aspects of the productivity of education systems internationally, utilising data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).