| dc.description.abstract | Student-based budgeting (SBB), which combines weighted-student funding with site-based budgeting, has been adopted in several urban districts across the United States to help increase equity between and within schools as well as remedy some of the perceived issues associated with more centralized budgeting. The weighted student funding (WSF) component of SBB accounts for the differential costs of educating different categories of students and provides students with the highest need a larger share of resources. The site-based budgeting component provides principals with greater budgetary flexibility to tailor school resources to student needs. Ideally, the combination of WSF and site-based budgeting through SBB should lead to more equitable outcomes for disadvantaged students by helping ensure they have the resources needed to be successful. However, limited research exists regarding the extent to which student-based budgeting, as a whole or in part, has achieved greater resource equity and outcomes-based equity. This three-essay dissertation explores SBB as a whole, as well as the weighted-student funding component of SBB, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. These essays examine the influence of weighted-student funding on resource and outcomes-based equity in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and Memphis-Shelby County Schools (SCS); explore the ways in which school principals conceptualize equity and operationalize it in resource allocation practices; and assess the consequences of varying funding levels on student outcomes, while also exploring potential underlying factors that may drive these outcomes. This research sheds light on the potential of weighted-student funding and site-based budgeting, known collectively as student-based budgeting, to advance equity in education. | |
