An Application of Mathematical Programming to Assess Managerial Efficiency in the Houston Independent School District

Abstract : A school may be viewed as an enterprise in which the professional staff provide the operating conditions for converting quantifiable resources or inputs into pupil learning (outputs). The resources are determined by budgets, teacher assignments, and student assignments while learning is determined by various outputs scored according to standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Following the work of Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes, we use a ratio definition of efficiency which takes account of all outputs and inputs without requiring a priori specification of weights. Instead a series of mathematical programs are applied to determine 'virtual multipliers' from actual data which yield the values that can be regarded as the 'most favorable weights' for each school being evaluated. If the resulting optimum virtual multipliers for a given school yields an efficiency ratio of one, then that school is said to be efficient. If the ratio is less than one then that school is said to be inefficient relative to the other schools in the analysis. The ratio is also accorded operational significance--it is not merely an index number-- so that the resulting values and the associated virtual multipliers make it possible to locate where improvements may be made along with their relative magnitudes. This analysis was applied to 167 elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District.