Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Needham, Chris

Titel

A Review of Funding for Special Education in North Carolina, 2010-2016, Applying the Values in Tension Framework

Ist Teil von

• ProQuest LLC, 2022

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest LLC

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

• ProQuest

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Within special education, funding is traditionally input-based, providing equitable resources to meet perceived student needs. However, as state and federal governments place an increasing emphasis on academic outcomes, I examine how special education funding has responded. Applying the values in tension model, I address a fundamental problem in school finance research of providing equity, efficiency, adequacy, and liberty. I analyzed funding for students with disabilities and the relationship to student outcomes. The findings reflect issues in determining suggested funding needs for students with disabilities based on each value and how cost differentials impact those differences. Due to the complexity of education funding, specifically special education funding, the study is focused at the state level in North Carolina. Equity is examined by applying Berne & Stiefel's (1984) conceptual framework for determining horizontal and vertical equity. Using a modified quadriform (D. M. Anderson, 1996; Hickrod et al., 1989; Hickrod & Genge, 1994), I analyzed the relative efficiency of districts. Finally, with the ability to account for cost differentials coming from variations in resource prices, geographic constraints, and student needs (Duncombe & Yinger,2008), I used a cost function approach to describe the relationship between student outcomes and funding for special education. The findings suggest that funding for students with disabilities in North Carolina is inequitable and unrelated to student outcomes. Further, while there was variance in the relative efficiency of funding across districts, the causes of the differences were not determinable. The inequity of inputs means that funding is not responding to student needs, therefore providing a possible reason why funding does not relate to student outcomes and why efficiency did not relate to alterable district characteristics. Reflecting the values in tension framework, North Carolina does not emphasize equity, adequacy, or efficiency. However, with corporate tax cuts (Fain, 2021), underfunding of public education (Baker et al., 2021), and an emphasis on school choice ("Report to the North Carolina General Assembly: 2020 Annual Charter Schools Report," 2021; "The Facts about School Vouchers," 2021) all together suggest an emphasis on providing individual liberty. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]