How Much More Does a Disadvantaged Student Cost?

Syracuse University Center for Policy Research Working Paper No. 60

45 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2011

See all articles by William D. Duncombe

William D. Duncombe

Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

John Yinger

Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Date Written: July 1, 2004

Abstract

This paper provides a guide to statistically based methods for estimating the extra costs of educating disadvantaged students, shows how these methods are related, and compares state aid programs that account for these costs in different ways. We show how pupil weights, which are included in many state aid programs, can be estimated from an education cost equation, which many scholars use to obtain an education cost index, and we devise a method to estimate pupil weights directly. Using data from New York, we show that the distribution of state aid is similar with statistically based pupil weights and an educational cost index. Finally, we show that large, urban school districts with a high concentration of disadvantaged students would receive far more aid (and rich suburban districts would receive far less aid) if statistically based pupil weights were used instead of the ad hoc weights in existing state aid programs.

JEL Classification: C15, H52, I22, I28

Suggested Citation

Duncombe, William David and Yinger, John, How Much More Does a Disadvantaged Student Cost? (July 1, 2004). Syracuse University Center for Policy Research Working Paper No. 60, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1810836 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1810836

William David Duncombe (Contact Author)

Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs ( email )

Center for Policy Research
426 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244-1020
United States
315-443-9040 (Phone)

John Yinger

Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs ( email )

Center for Policy Research
426 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244-1020
United States
315-443-9062 (Phone)

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