You are just hired by the Department of Education as a junior research officer. Your job is to help finish a report comparing states that require competency tests for graduation from high school versus those that do not. Given the data set pertaining to various characteristics of these states, write and submit a report of at least 10 pages in length for the questions listed below. Attach all tables and charts in an appendix. The data set is will be provided separately in an excel file. You can access the data file from the course web page on the blackboard.
Definitions:
SAT Average combined verbal/math scores of Scholastic Assessment Test during 1994-95 school years.
EXPEND current expenditure for public elementary and secondary education for the 1995-96 school years, in billions of dollars.
TAKERS Percentage of 1995-95 school year graduates who took the SAT
ENROLL Total enrollment in public elementary and secondary school in the United States; fall 1995 figure in thousands of students.
TEACHEERS Total number of public elementary and secondary teachers in the United States; fall 1995 figures in thousands of full time equivalent
RATIO Student-to-teacher ratio in the United States, fall 1995. Calculated as ENROLL/TEACHERS
SALARY Estimated average annual salary of teachers in thousands of dollars.
D Dummy variable: 1= require competency test; 0 = do not require competency test.
a.Obtain descriptive statistics and compare the following variables in competency test required versus not required states. (1) SAT (2) SALARY (3) RATIO (4) EXPEND (5) TAKERS (6) ENROLL, (7) TEACHERS. Analyze your findings.
b. Form a separate contingency table for the type of state (competency test required versus not required) and whether SAT score exceeds 1000.
c.Determine if there is a significant difference in the average SAT scores based on the type of state (competency test required versus not required).
d.Determine if there is a significant difference in average teachers’ salaries based on the type of state.
e.Determine if there is a significant difference in a student-teacher ratio based on the type of state.
f.Determine if there is a significant difference in EXPEND/ENROLL ratio by type of state.
g.Determine if there is a significant difference in SALARY/EXPEND ratio by type of state.
Note: When describing the results in parts (c) through (g), clearly specify all hypothesis and selected level of significance.
h.Develop a regression model that would enable a prediction of SAT score. Make sure you include the dummy variable for the type of state in your regression. What factors appear to influence SAT scores of high school students?
