Spending and Achievement

Spending and Student Achievement Case

Case Problem Statement: There is some concern that spending may be unnecessarily out of control in many states. Higher education costs lead to higher taxes and residents are concerned there is no benefit in spending more because test scores are not always better just because more money is spent. Is there a relationship between money spent and test scores achieved?

a. The following are numerical and graphical data of the student spending case: The first table was sorted by least spent to most spent and adjacent to that are lowest scores to highest scores. This is a way to look at the data and see if there is any evidence that spending and scores might be related. The scatter diagram shows test scores in relation to money spent.

State Spending

per Pupil ($) Composite

Score State Spending

per Pupil ($) Composite

Score

Utah 3,280 650 California 4,917 580

Mississippi 3,423 582 Hawaii 5,532 580

Alabama 3,777 604 Louisiana 4,049 581

Tennessee 3,800 618 Mississippi 3,423 582

Arizona 4,041 618 South Carolina 4,304 603

Louisiana 4,049 581 Alabama 3,777 604

Arkansas 4,060 615 Georgia 4,663 611

New Mexico 4,097 614 Florida 4,934 611

South Carolina 4,304 603 New Mexico 4,097 614

North Dakota 4,374 671 Arkansas 4,060 615

Missouri 4,483 641 Delaware 6,208 615

Texas 4,520 627 Tennessee 3,800 618

North Carolina 4,521 629 Arizona 4,041 618

Georgia 4,663 611 West Virginia 5,247 625

Colorado 4,772 644 Maryland 6,100 625

California 4,917 580 Kentucky 5,020 626

Florida 4,934 611 Texas 4,520 627

Montana 4,985 667 New York 8,162 628

Kentucky 5,020 626 North Carolina 4,521 629

Iowa 5,060 665 Rhode Island 6,554 638

Indiana 5,128 649 Washington 5,338 639

West Virginia 5,247 625 Missouri 4,483 641

Washington 5,338 639 Colorado 4,772 644

Nebraska 5,410 660 Indiana 5,128 649

Minnesota 5,477 661 Utah 3,280 650

Wyoming 5,515 657 Wyoming 5,515 657

Hawaii 5,532 580 Connecticut 7,629 657

Maine 5,561 675 Massachusetts 6,413 658

Wisconsin 6,055 667 Nebraska 5,410 660

Maryland 6,100 625 Minnesota 5,477 661

Delaware 6,208 615 Iowa 5,060 665

Massachusetts 6,413 658 Montana 4,985 667

Rhode Island 6,554 638 Wisconsin 6,055 667

Connecticut 7,629 657 North Dakota 4,374 671

New York 8,162 628 Maine 5,561 675

b. Based on the Excel output only 12.3% of the scores correlate with money spent a clear indication that there is no relationship between the amount of money spent and the scores achieved.

SUMMARY OUTPUT

Regression Statistics

Multiple R 0.351698

R Square 0.123691

Adjusted R Square 0.096307

Standard Error 25.1825

Observations 34

ANOVA