Advisor
Morgan, Thomas Lee
Committee Member
Domangue, Elizabeth
Committee Member
Sheehan, Eugene
Committee Member
Tsai, Chia-Lin
Department
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences; Department of Leadership, Policy, and Development: Higher Education and P-12 Education, Leadership and Policy Studies
Institution
University of Northern Colorado
Type of Resources
Text
Place of Publication
Greeley, (Colo.)
Publisher
University of Northern Colorado
Date Created
12-2020
Extent
136 pages
Digital Origin
Born digital
Abstract
School finance litigation is often conceptualized as occurring in three waves, with the most recent wave, the third wave, beginning in 1989. Third wave litigation argues for improvements in school funding by claiming that schools are inadequately funded, resulting in students being deprived of their constitutional right to a certain level of education. Despite this third wave’ thirty-one year history, its effects remain understudied. In this secondary data analysis thirty-three cases where plaintiffs prevailed and twenty-nine cases where defendants prevailed were used to examine the effects of third wave school finance litigation on school funding and student achievement, and to determine whether any observed effects changed over time. The findings indicate that litigation is associated with small, but non-significant, improvements in school funding, and when those parties arguing for improved school adequacy prevail, student achievement improves. There is little evidence that litigation’s effectiveness has been changing over time. These findings suggest that litigation, especially where the plaintiffs prevail, can improve student outcomes, but this change is likely to be small.
Degree type
EdD
Degree Name
Doctoral
Local Identifiers
Kopanke_unco_0161D_10893.pdf
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
