Date of Award
8-20-2009
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Daniel Cline
Committee Members
Dan Marburger; David Cox; Mitchell Holifield; Paul Finnicum
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2009 S43
Abstract
Data on public secondary schools in Arkansas were gathered for two separate school years, 2005-2006 (N = 278) and 2006-2007 (N = 279), to determine if there was an association between athletic expenditures and student academic achievement. Prior to this research, there was little empirical evidence demonstrating any effect that athletic spending has upon student academic achievement throughout the State of Arkansas or the United States. In addition, there were two pieces of research found, one in Texas and one in Arkansas, indicating that athletic spending has a somewhat negative association with student academic achievement. The major purposes of this study were guided by four research questions: 1) Is there an association of athletic expenditures related to the amount of money spent on athletics based on the percentage of the total school budget with student academic achievement in Arkansas secondary public schools?, 2) Do public secondary schools in Arkansas spend lesser or greater percentages of the total school budget for athletics in comparison to a national average range?, 3) Are there factors that influence the outcomes of student academic performance other than athletic expenditures, such as race, socioeconomic status, discipline, resource rate, curriculum offerings, district average teacher salaries, total school enrollment, and the amount of money spent on athletics based on the percentage of the total school budget?, and 4) Does the size (based on AAA classifications) of a district influence student academic performance and the amount of money spent on athletics based on the percentage of the total school budget? The four research questions assisted in the investigation of whether athletic expenditures had a positive, negative, or no influence on student academic achievement. Results from bivariate correlations, analysis of variance, and a comparison of data results show support for there being a positive association between athletic expenditures and student academic achievement in Arkansas secondary public schools during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. Controlling for a number of factors that could affect student academic achievement performance, athletic expenditures were associated with weak but significant associations in end of course algebra and geometry, end of level literacy, and the ACT. These findings imply that recent athletic expenditure practices are advantageous in contributing to the student academic success in the state of Arkansas.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Skelton, Mike A., "The Association of Athletic Expenditures with Student Academic Achievement in Arkansas Secondary Public Schools" (2009). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1014.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1014
