1. RTI International
RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute. www.rti.org
K–12 School-Level Expenditures:
Data Collection Challenges and Solutions
Jordan Hudson, RTI International
Ruth Heuer, RTI International
Nikki Williams, RTI International

2. RTI International
Presentation Overview
• Study background
• Study design
• Data collection strategy
• Data validation process
• Data collection results
• Lessons learned

3. RTI International
Study of School-Level Expenditures – Background
• U.S. Department of Education’s Study of School-Level
Expenditures (SSLE) - requirement under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
• First time school-level expenditure data collected for all
50 States (approximately 83,000 K-12 public schools)
• Data to examine state and local resources in high-need
schools vs. low-need schools

4. RTI International
First…A Few Factors To Consider -- Study Design
Data quality concerns voiced by a number of states and
researchers:
• School districts did not have accounting systems in place
to track revenues and expenditures at the school level
• States did not have all of the data needed for the study in
their databases so had to set up a system to collect the
required expenditure data from districts and schools
• Data had to be collected retroactively

5. RTI International
Study Design
Four types of expenditures for each K–12 school
were collected
• Total personnel salaries for all school-level instructional and
support staff
• Salaries for instructional staff
• Salaries for teachers
• Non-personnel expenditures (if available)
States were to report only state and local funding

6. RTI International
Data Collection Strategy
• Sent an Excel spreadsheet (data file shell) with
pre-loaded data and a built-in formula to state data
coordinators via email
• Provided detailed instructions laying out the types
of expenditures to include or exclude
• Built a secure website for coordinators to upload
completed data files

7. RTI International
Data Collection Strategy
Study of School-Level Expenditures: State Spreadsheet With
Pre-Populated Data From EDFacts
State
Name
LEA ID
(NCES ID
Code)
LEA
Name
School ID
(NCES ID
Code)
School
Name
School
Title I
Status in
2008-09
Personnel
Salaries –
Total
Personnel
Salaries –
Instructional
Staff Only
Personnel
Salaries –
Teachers
Only
Non-
Personnel
Expenditures
at School
Level (if
available)
Student
Enrollment
Personnel Salary
Expenditures per
Student Enrolled
EDFacts EDFacts EDFacts EDFacts EDFacts EDFacts EDFacts
Calculated via
formula
Data File Shell Sent To State Data Coordinators

8. RTI International
Data Validation Process
• Data received via a secure website
• All data values submitted were checked
programmatically
• Validation checked for:
• Missing data
• $0 amounts
• Per-pupil expenditures out of range
• Expenditures make sense relative to each other:
Total Personnel > Instructional Staff > Teachers

9. RTI International
Life Cycle of Data Collection/Validation

10. RTI International
Data Collection Results
• All states submitted data on their schools
• Charter school data was extremely difficult to collect
• Burden hours varied greatly from state to state

11. RTI International
Lessons Learned
• Provide clear data reporting instructions
• Provide standard template for reporting data
• Include real-time data checks
•Specify a consistent means for communicating information
about the data
•Timing of the data collection

12. RTI International
Things To Come…What’s Next?
• Data and the interim report to be released Fall 2011
• Final report with study results to released in Spring 2012

13. RTI International
More Information
Jordan Hudson
919-316-3416
jhudson@rti.org
Ruth Heuer
919-541-6457
heuer@rti.org