Research Results.pdf

45 ? The Author 2015 A. Spears, School Funding and Student Achievement , SpringerBriefs in Political Science 23, DOI -3-319-10317-4_4 Chapter 4 Research Results Preliminary statistical analyses were conducted on the data to determine the need for further assessment. The data included in these tests includes pilation of district-level data from the 176 school districts in Kentucky and the 136 districts in Tennessee. The results of these tests are presented in the tables below. The data in Table suggest that per pupil expenditures (PPE) in Kentucky increased signi? cantly from 1991 to 2001, with a p value of .000. Additionally, the data suggests that both the raw gap between the highest and lowest spending dis- tricts and the gap between the top and bottom quartile districts increased signi? - cantly, with both PPE GAP and PPE Q GAP showing a p value of .000. In terms of ACT scores, with a p value of .000, the data (re? ected in variable ACT) suggest ? rst a signi? cant increase in ACT scores followed by a signi? cant decrease in scores. The data also suggest that both the raw gap between the highest and lowest districts (ACT GAP) and the quartile gap (ACT Q GAP) changed signi? cantly (a p value of .000 for both) during the time period under study. While the raw gap increased, the data indicate that the quartile gap actually decreased in some years. The data in Table is suf? cient to reject the following null hypotheses : H 4a : There is no statistically signi? cant difference in per pupil spending in Kentucky (1991–2001). H 5a : There is no statistically signi? cant difference in the change in gap in per pupil spending among the highest and lowest spending school districts in Kentucky (1991–2001). H 1a : There is no statistically signi? cant change on standardized test scores (ACT 1991–2001) in Kentucky. H 3a : There is no statistical