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| Good Student Test Scores Boost Home Values |
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(July 14, 2006) -- Student scores on state proficiency tests can drive up housing prices, a new study suggests.
A study of Ohio school districts showed that an increase of about 20 percentage points in the proficiency test "pass rate" increased home values in a school district by about 7 percent - even after considering other factors that can have an impact on home values.
"In Ohio, there are districts with 20 percent pass rates and some with 85 percent pass rates, so based on our findings that would result in about a 23 percent difference in house values solely because of the schools. It is not trivial amount," says Donald Haurin, co-author of the study and professor of economics at Ohio State University.
More complex measures like how much proficiency test pass rates improved between the 4th and the 9th grades didn't have much impact on home values.
Haurin says that's a shame because paying attention to the pass rate rather than the improvement rating favors schools in affluent areas where students arrive at school well prepared. "That school district will look good on average test scores no matter what it does with its students," Haurin says.
Meanwhile, schools that work hard and improve their students' test scores don't get the credit they deserve and as a result don't get as much taxpayer support even though they are definitely adding value to their students' education.
- REALTOR® Magazine Online
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