Determinants of the Quality of Primary and Secondary Public Education in West Virginia

Studies analyzing expenditures for public education have used a variety of inputs into the educational process as proxies for the quality of education. This study attempts to isolate some of the inputs which do, in fact, have an effect upon educational quality. To accomplish this, output measures of quality were derived from a sample of 5,000 West Virginia University students who had graduated from high schools within the state. The results show that only one of the input variables examined, teachers' salaries, was significantly related to the output measures of quality. In addition, factors exogenous to the local school system-factors reflecting socioeconomic characteristics of the communities in which the school systems were located-were observed to have a significant effect upon quality. The results give rise to dual conclusions. First, input variables seem to be imprecise measures of educational quality. Second, the empirical evidence provides some support for the contention that the quality of education may be improved by offering higher salaries to teachers.