In$ite Chart #3:
Instruction by category and Instructional Support
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view and/or print this chart in PDF format (42 KB)
What you are looking at:
Chart #3 removes two large categories: Operations and Leadership, in order to assess the costs directly related to supporting the child, the teacher or the classroom. This chart includes an aggregate of all five Instruction sub-categories – classroom teachers, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom technology and classroom materials – and Instructional Support – which includes pupil support (guidance, library, extracurricular and student health), teacher support (curriculum development, professional development, etc.) and program support (psychologist, personal attendants, social workers, etc.). The per pupil expenditure includes all students, in general education as well as programs targeted to specific populations such as English language learners and special education. This chart does not represent 100% of the total per pupil expenditure, but graphically shows the actual of each of the above sub-categories. The chart is re-sorted once again, high to low, by per pupil expenditure for Instruction and Instructional Support.
What you are looking for:
You are looking to get a comparative sense of the state’s investment specifically in teaching and learning, in the child, the teacher and the classroom. Bear in mind that district educational decisions such as class size, the presence of teacher aides, reading specialists, the specific needs of their students, and so on will affect these numbers.
More questions than answers
These charts are not answers or proofs, but merely lenses that offer us fresh perspectives. Since we have no standards or ideal expenditures, the charts raise some questions which cannot go unanswered at the state level.
Questions such as:
Why do certain districts have such high costs for substitute teachers?
The way In$ite works is to allocate the money spent on subs hired to cover a teacher engaged in professional development to the Instructional Support sub-category of professional development. Those subs, then, are not included in the Instruction category. The substitute teacher costs represented in the In$ite Chart #3 apply only to absences due to illness, personal days and the like.
Why do some districts appear to have many paraprofessionals and others almost none?
This could be directly proportional to the specific needs of their student population or the needs of certain programs. There could also be other circumstances that impact this area.
One thing we do know is that sometimes a high number in classroom technology will represent a one-time district investment that will drop next year and not a sustained commitment. We know, for example, that the Johnston district has made a substantial commitment to classroom technology and is one of very few districts in the state to achieve a 1 to 4, computer to student ratio.
Major questions arise about the relationship of specific investments to results or student achievement. Again, the state can draw no conclusions as yet.
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