Investing in schools: capital spending, facility conditions, and student achievement

Martorell, Paco; Stange, Kevin; McFarlin, Isaac

doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.05.002

Cited by 86 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…While CPTED offers promising results for improving school environments, the cost of renovating existing schools to meet ideal CPTED standards in a comprehensive manner would exceed most school districts’ budget allowances (Schneider et al, ). Further, inequities in the funding of CPTED improvements might be disproportional, especially to students who come from families with limited political, social, or economic capital (Filardo, Bar, Cheng, Ulsoy, & Allen, ; Martorell, Stange, & McFarlin, ). Thus, there are significant systemic funding barriers to overcome in implementing CPTED in schools.…”

Section: Cptedmentioning

confidence: 99%

An alternative to fortified schools: Using crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to balance student safety and psychological well‐being

Lamoreaux¹,

Sulkowski

2019

Psychology in the Schools

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In response to tragic school shootings, heightened attention has been devoted to making schools safer through the implementation of security features. However, excessive security measures have a negative impact on school climate, student functioning, and academic achievement. Therefore, there is a critical need to design schools that are safe and secure, yet also welcoming and comfortable. As a promising approach in this regard, crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is an architectural philosophy that aims to deter criminal or antisocial behavior through environmental design, and it includes a focus on natural surveillance, access control, and territorial reinforcement. This review discusses pertinent effects of the school environment on student outcomes, extant research on the impact of visible security measures, the relationship between students’ perceptions of safety and academic functioning, and how using CPTED could concomitantly address the physical safety and psychological comfort of students at school.

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Section: Cptedmentioning

confidence: 99%

An alternative to fortified schools: Using crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to balance student safety and psychological well‐being

Lamoreaux¹,

Sulkowski

2019

Psychology in the Schools

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“…When we estimate specifications similar toCard and Payne's (2002) closely related analysis of earlier SFRs (AppendixTable A3), estimated SFR effects are slightly larger but imprecise, and well within the earlier confidence intervals. Where Card and Payne find that total revenues rise by about $0.50 per extra $1 in state aid, our estimates indicate much more stickiness for the recent reforms.23 Using a different research design, Sims (2011b) finds effects of SFRs on teacher pay.24 Neilson and Zimmerman (2014) find that school reconstruction causes increases in student achievement.Cellini et al (2010) andMartorell, Stange, and McFarlin (2015) fail to find significant effects, but each study is under-powered to detect effects of plausible magnitude.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

Lafortune¹,

Rothstein²,

Schanzenbach³

2016

114

160

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We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called "adequacy" era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in spending in low-income school districts. Using representative samples from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, we find that reforms cause increases in the achievement of students in these districts, phasing in gradually over the years following the reform. The implied effect of school resources on educational achievement is large.

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“…We do not have information on how exactly buildings were improved after receiving the extra funding; therefore we do not know what are the underlying causal mechanism linking better infrastructures to test score gains. As Martorell et al (2016) outlined in their contribution, there might be several, potential mechanisms at play such as the improvement in temperature control; modernization in infrastructure to support the latest technology or labs for science education; infrastructure enhancements to avoid chronic distractions and reduce the number of missed school days. Low-quality facilities could also undermine effort, especially of low-achieving students.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neilson & Zimmerman (2014) find strong evidence that school construction programs led, among other outcomes, to sustained gains in reading scores for elementary and middle school students. Yet, Martorell et al (2016), who focuses more specifically on school facility investments, find little evidence that spending on facilities generate improvements in student achievement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School Infrastructure Spending and Educational Outcomes in Northern Italy

et al. 2017

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We explore whether investment in public school infrastructure affects students' achievement. We use data on extra funding to public high schools after the 2012 Northern Italy earthquake and apply a quasi-experimental design and an instrumental variable strategy. We find that spending on school infrastructure increases standardized test scores in mathematics and Italian language, and the effect is stronger for lower-achieving students and in mathematics. These results provide evidence in favor of a positive impact of capital spending in improving the learning environment and performances of high school students.

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Investing in schools: capital spending, facility conditions, and student achievement

Abstract: 2016-11-03T14:11:40

Cited by 86 publications

References 23 publications

An alternative to fortified schools: Using crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to balance student safety and psychological well‐being

An alternative to fortified schools: Using crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to balance student safety and psychological well‐being

School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

School Infrastructure Spending and Educational Outcomes in Northern Italy

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