Determinants of Success on the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test

Abstract

This paper uses data from Ohio school districts to determine the effects of various inputs on the performance of students on a ninth grade proficiency test. Our approach holds advantages over previous studies because our measure of performance is not subject to sample selection and incentive biases, and because we have disaggregated measures of school inputs. We find that a school district's background characteristics (median income, level of education, urbanicity, etc.) are generally more important than the inputs controlled by the school (number and salary of teachers, principals, administrators and other employees). {121)