UC San Diego

The purpose of this study was to examine how three successful high schools and districts in California allocate human and fiscal resources. This study sought to understand how successful high schools and districts serving a diverse student population link financial decisions to student achievement data. Three successful high schools and districts serving students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program, the English Language Development (ELD) program, and minorities were the focus of this multiple case study. The three high schools and respective districts were systematically selected using multiple criteria including student achievement data from AYP and API reports, and student demographic information. In order to be deemed "successful" for this study, the districts and high schools needed to meet all criteria for AYP and demonstrate API growth for all subgroups. The primary sources of data collection were twelve interviews with school administrators and school board officials. The Superintendent, Chief Business Officer, a School Board Official, and a High School Principal from each of the three successful school districts were interviewed using a semi structured interview protocol developed by the authors of the project "Getting Down to Facts". The interview protocols were grounded on effective schools and educational adequacy frameworks