The New York Adequacy Study: "Determining the Cost of Providing All Children in New York an Adequate Education"

Washington, D.C. - The American Institutes for Research recently completed a 15-month study to determine the cost of an “adequate” education for all public school students in the state of New York. The work was performed in collaboration with Management Analysis and Planning, Inc.

An adequate education was defined as one that provided all students with an opportunity to meet the New York State Board of Regents Learning Standards. These standards were established in 1996 and are now the basis for exams that students must pass to receive a high school diploma and for exams to determine whether students in early grades are on track to pass the high school exams.

A series of “public engagement” meetings were held to solicit input from members of the community regarding the outcome standards that would provide a foundation for the analysis and to obtain feedback on what would be required for students to meet those standards.

The centerpiece of the study involved the use of Professional Judgment Panels, composed of highly qualified educators, to develop instructional models and to specify the resources necessary to implement these models.

Panel members were selected in part on the basis of nomination procedures and statistical analysis to identify schools found to be successful in meeting the standards. These statistical analyses were also used to provide information on staffing in successful schools to the panels.

The final step involved estimating the cost of making the programs developed by the panels available throughout the state of New York. The study found that an additional $6.2 to $8.4 billion would have been necessary in 2001-02 to ensure all students a “full opportunity to meet the Regents Learning Standards.” This additional cost would be on top of the $31.7 billion spent in that year on public school education in the state. While approximately 160 of the 680 districts in the state were already spending at “adequate” levels, the remaining districts would have required additional funds.

The American Institutes for Research, founded in 1946, is a leader in the behavioral and social sciences. AIR is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization engaged in domestic and international research, development, evaluation, analysis, product development, training and technical assistance and assessment.