A correlational study between teacher salary levels and student achievement in the Los Angeles County public school systems

The future of America is at risk. According to a recent poll of the public's opinion towards school performance, only about half of those surveyed gave the nation's public school systems a favorable grade. Students have performed poorly in standardized tests, particularly in mathematics and science when compared with other developed nations. Low student achievement is blamed to have direct consequences in the United States economy, especially in today's global market.;To address the problem of poor academic achievement, serious student learning must take place and solid educational policies must be developed. A major concern for educational leaders is whether or not quality college graduates are entering the field of teaching. In order to compete with the private sectors, teacher salaries must be competitive enough to attract the best and the brightest candidates. The question of accountability in our public schools sets the center stage for this research.;What assurances can the public expect if increase funding is allocated to raise the salary of teachers? Specifically, will there be an increase in student achievement as a result of paying teachers higher salaries? This study sought to determine if a positive relationship exists between teacher salary levels and student achievement in the Los Angeles public school systems. External factors known to have an effect on standardized tests were carefully considered. The number of limited English speakers who participated in the Stanford Achievement tests (chosen instrument to measure student achievement), as well as the median family income of each school district or city, will be utilized to stratify the research data into quartiles. In an attempt to isolate these two factors that are known to have a negative effect on test scores, the sub data groups were separately analyzed.;The statistical procedure utilized in this study was the Pearson's product-moment correlation matrix. The results of this study led to the conclusion that no strong or systematic relationship exists. Specific findings revealed that there exists little or no correlation between teacher salary levels and student achievement as measured by the Stanford Achievement Tests, Ninth Edition, in the Los Angeles County public school systems.