A CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY BASED DECISION MAKING IN THE ECONOMICS OF RURAL EDUCATION

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0207800
• Grant No.: 2006-38814-17538
• Proposal No.: 2006-02866
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2006
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2010
• Grant Year: 2006
• Program Code: [EQ]- Research Project

Recipient Organization
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
3500 JOHN A. MERRITT BLVD
NASHVILLE,TN 37209

Performing Department
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Non Technical Summary
Efforts have been made to fund education from public sources since the early years of this nation. The current philosophy, set in 1906, continues to be implemented as statewide policy and as such, continues to place rural schools and school districts at a distinct disadvantage. It is evident by the repetition of litigation in many states that the minimalist philosophy prevails even as courts mandate equal and adequate funding. The goal of this research is to make available expanded rural economic opportunities by providing adequate and equitable education processes for all school children and youth in rural areas of the United States. To achieve this goal, practitioner knowledge of the economics of rural education funding must be enhanced in order to add value to decision making processes and the implementation of sustainable methodological solutions. This research project addresses CSREES Strategic Goal 2: Support Increased Economic Opportunities and Improved Quality of Life in Rural America; Objective 2.1: Expand economic opportunities in rural America by bringing scientific insights into economic and business decision making; and Objective 2.2: Provide science-based technology, products, and information to facilitate informed decisions affecting the quality of life in rural areas. This proposed project will apply cutting-edge technologies (e.g. GIS, econometrics, knowledge management) to the resolution of a problem that has remained persistent for the past 100 years.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

rurality

education funding

gis

econometrics

knowledge management

Goals / Objectives
Objectives are to (1) develop a technology based model for analysis of rural economics of education; (2) develop alternative geospatial modeling of funding rural education; (3) develop a rural education econometrics knowledge management model. At the conclusion of the project, new models will have been developed and made openly available for Geospatial Rural Education Funding, Micropolitan Education Processes Research, Web-based Rural Education Funding Knowledge Management, and for replication of the Center for Technology Based Decision Making in the Economics of Rural Education at other institutions. Training modules for newly developed models will be openly available via the project's website. A complete archive of GIS shapefiles for Tennessee rural school districts will have been established for future decision-making, research, and/or teaching efforts. A complete data archive of the economics of education for Tennessee rural school districts will have been established for future decision-making, research, and/or teaching efforts. A complete data archive of rural economic data of all Tennessee school districts and/or counties from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, and state economic development agencies will have been established for future decision-making, research, and/or teaching efforts. There will be a significant increase in the knowledge of geospatial-based rural education funding. There will be an increase in rural education finance information that is openly available to state and local decision-makers. There will be a significant increase in openly available rural school finance decision making knowledge capture material as measured by the amount of digital data captured and electronically stored for synthesis and retrieval.

Project Methods
A rural education economics geospatial information and analysis system will be developed with ArcGIS 9.x. Primary relational databases of the GIS will include: rural resources utilized for education; expenditures of school districts; outcomes of NCLB; rural fiscal capacity analysis; adequacy and equity of rural education economics; rural economic productivity; relationships of rural fiscal capacity to non-rural. Using the rural education economics GIS, spatial based simulation models of funding rural education will be created. The spatial based models will then be compared to the currently utilized Professional Judgment model, Successful Schools model, and Statistical model to evaluate accuracy and precision. Spatial based technologies will then be used to simulate alternative models. Geospatial based econometric models for rural education funding will then be created. Regional knowledge capture workshops will be held to build an interactive digital data archive containing search and retrieve video, audio, and data management modules. A Web portal for rural education economics research will then be developed and published on Tennessee State University's Web server. Finally, a training module for state and local governments to update, search and simulate data outcomes from data archive will be designed and presented.

Progress 09/01/06 to 08/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: This project resulted in the establishment of the Center for Education Funding Analysis at TSU. Specific work included completion of a geospatial information system (GIS) of Tennessee public education statistics. Data include education funding and finance, demographics, student achievement, value-added gains, attendance, graduation rates, adequate yearly progress, and No Child Left Behind. Additional GIS databases include U.S. Census Bureau statistics for the general population. Development of GIS databases for replication of existing cost study findings entered a beta test phase. Development of a Micropolitan Education Processes Research Model also entered beta testing. Presentations were made at key regional and national meetings, and publications were submitted to refereed journals. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Robert E. Harrison Dr. Gary L. Peevely Dr. Bruce D. Baker TARGET AUDIENCES: Organizations and decision-makers in public P-12 education. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Robert E. Harrison Dr. Gary L. Peevely Dr. Bruce D. Baker. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organizations and decision-makers in public P-12 education. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
The Center for Education Funding Analysis has provided the opportunity for eleven undergraduate students to conduct and successfully complete their Senior Projects. Two Master's level students are currently conducting thesis projects and one Ph.D. student is currently conducting a dissertation project. Work conducted by the Center is regularly used in several courses across the university. Measurable outcomes are : 1) an archive of GIS maps and shapefiles for rural school districts; 2) an archive of rural economics of education data from school districts in Tennessee; 3) an increase in knowledge of geospatial-based rural education funding as indicated by accesses to data from the project's Web portal; 4) an increase in information made available to state and local decision makers as indicated by requests for information and model development.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project resulted in the establishment of the Center for Education Funding Analysis at TSU. Specific work included completion of a geospatial information system (GIS) of Tennessee public education statistics. Data include education funding and finance, demographics, student achievement, value-added gains, attendance, graduation rates, adequate yearly progress, and No Child Left Behind. Additional GIS databases include U.S. Census Bureau statistics for the general population. Development of GIS databases for replication of existing cost study findings entered a beta test phase. Development of a Micropolitan Education Processes Research Model also entered beta testing. Presentations were made at key regional and national meetings, and publications were submitted to refereed journals. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Robert E. Harrison Dr. Gary L. Peevely Dr. Bruce D. Baker TARGET AUDIENCES: Organizations and decision-makers in public P-12 education. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
The Center for Education Funding Analysis has provided the opportunity for eleven undergraduate students to conduct and successfully complete their Senior Projects. Two Master's level students are currently conducting thesis projects and one Ph.D. student is currently conducting a dissertation project. Work conducted by the Center is regularly used in several courses across the university. Measurable outcomes are : 1) an archive of GIS maps and shapefiles for rural school districts; 2) an archive of rural economics of education data from school districts in Tennessee; 3) an increase in knowledge of geospatial-based rural education funding as indicated by accesses to data from the project's Web portal; 4) an increase in information made available to state and local decision makers as indicated by requests for information and model development.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 09/01/07 to 08/31/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: A geospatial information system (GIS) of Tennessee public education statistics was completed. Data include education funding and finance, demographics, student achievement, value-added gains, attendance, graduation rates, adequate yearly progress, and No Child Left Behind. Additional GIS databases include U.S. Census Bureau statistics for the general population. Development of GIS databases for replication of existing cost study findings entered a beta test phase. Development of a Micropolitan Education Processes Research Model also entered beta testing. Presentations were made at key regional and national meetings, and publications were submitted to refereed journals. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The Center for Education Funding Analysis has provided the opportunity for eleven undergraduate students to conduct and successfully complete their Senior Projects. Two Master's level students are currently conducting thesis projects and one Ph.D. student is currently conducting a dissertation project. Work conducted by the Center is regularly used in several courses across the university. Measurable outcomes are : 1) an archive of GIS maps and shapefiles for rural school districts; 2) an archive of rural economics of education data from school districts in Tennessee; 3) an increase in knowledge of geospatial-based rural education funding as indicated by accesses to data from the project's Web portal; 4) an increase in information made available to state and local decision makers as indicated by requests for information and model development.

Publications

• Harrison, R. E. 2008. Geospatial analysis in urban planning. Invited Presentation: College of Public Service and Urban Affairs, Nashville, Tennessee, February.
• Harrison, R. E. 2008. Monitoring land use with GIS and GPS. Invited Presentation: Cooperative Extension Land Use Workshop, Nashville, Tennessee, September 18.
• Peevely, G., Harrison, R., Smith, S and Brown, B. 2008. An analysis of public education funding and achievement outcomes in the Southern Black Belt. 33rd Annual Conference of the American Education Finance Association, Denver, Colorado, April 10-12.
• Harrison, R. E. 2007. Geospatial information systems and the global positioning system. Invited Workshop: PCAEIS Summer Camp, Nashville, Tennessee, June 15-22.
• Peevely, G. and Harrison, R. 2007. Spatial dependence and education funding. American Education Finance Association 32nd Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, March 22-24.

Progress 09/01/06 to 08/31/07

Outputs
A proposal to establish The Center for Education Funding Analysis at Tennessee State University was submitted to and approved by Tennessee State University and the Tennessee Board of Regents. The center was officially established and became operational as an academic unit in May of 2007. Promotional materials were developed, produced, and distributed to education and government officials, and to appropriate educational institutions and professional organizations. Presentations were made at key regional and national meetings, and publications were submitted to refereed journals. A geospatial information system (GIS) of education statistics was designed, established, and population of data was begun. Data included education funding and finance, demographics, student achievement, value-added gains, attendance (including suspensions and expulsions), graduation rates, adequate yearly progress, and No Child Left Behind. Additional GIS databases were developed to include Census Bureau statistics for the general population. Development of GIS databases for replication of existing cost study findings utilizing geospatial methodology was begun. Development of a Micropolitan Education Processes Research Model was also begun. One Ph.D. dissertation and two Master's theses related to the project were begun by students in Tennessee State University's Department of Agricultural Sciences and Institute of Government. Four Senior projects were completed by students in the Department of Agricultural Sciences.

Impacts
Products of the project are expected to be: 1) a geosptial rural education funding model; 2) a micropolitan education processes research model, 3) a Web-based rural education funding knowledge management model; 4) a model for utilization of 1890-based resources for replication of the center; 5) replication of existing cost study findings utilizing geospatial methodology. Measurable outcomes are expected to Be: 1) an archive of GIS shape maps for rural school districts; 2) an archive of rural economics of education data from school districts in Tennessee; 3) an increase in knowledge of geospatial-based rural education funding as indicated by access data from the project's Web portal; 4) an increase in information made available to state and local decision makers as indicated by requests for information and model adoption; 5) an increase in archival information and knowledge-capture material evidenced by the amount of digital data captured and electronically stored for synthesis and retrieval.

Publications

• Harrison, R. E. 2007. Geospatial analysis in public administration. Invited presentation and workshop at Southeastern Conference for Public Administration, Nashville, Tennessee, September 26-29.
• Peevely, G., R. Harrison, and R. Gibbs. 2007. Geospatial Characterization of Rural Public School Districts in Tennessee. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, April 9-13.
• Peevely, G. 2007. Geospatial analysis of public education. Invited presentation and workshop at Southeastern Conference for Public Administration, Nashville, Tennessee, September 26-29.
• Williams, A., R. Harrison, and G. Peevely. 2007. A center for technology-based decision-making. ESRI International User Conference, San Diego, California, June 18-22.