Education in the U.S., What Factors Matter?

This paper studies the inputs that go into U.S. elementary and secondary school students’ education by state and how each of those inputs impact the output of their education represented by the average SAT score by each state. The research found that the most significant advantage to U.S. elementary and secondary has to do with money, with wealthier students generally scoring better on the SAT. The results of this study were found using a regression that uses household income, teacher salaries, funding per student, population education level, pupil-to-teacher ratio, participation rate in the SAT, portion of students enrolled in private schools, and whether the state is red or blue. The results of show how factors like being in private school, coming from a wealthier family, and classes with fewer students help students achieve higher SAT scores.