Case Study on Spatial Mismatch between Multivariate and Student-Teacher Rate in U.S. Public School Districts

Abstract

An important aspect of educational equity is the balance between students and teachers in the general education system. To address the need for a sustainable, balanced, and reliable supply of high-quality STEM teachers for public school districts, this research aims to illustrate the spatial dynamics of student-teacher balance in the impact of teacher salary, school poverty, transportation, and environmental factors from 2015 to 2020, Data were collected to create a multivariate evaluation via Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP), Compromise Programming (CP), weight linear combination and Spatial Mismatch Index Model (SMI) to reveal the non-synergistic coupling relationship between multivariate and student-teacher rate in school districts, counties, and state multiple levels. The results suggest that compared to 10% of the spatial mismatch index at the state level, the proportion of mismatched areas at the school district and county levels was the same at 1%. NV, IN, VT, MA, and FL were mismatched at the state level but had good matches at the county and school district levels. Other unpredictable factors related to teacher shortages, such as workload, school rankings, and teacher vacancies, should be considered for further study in future research plans. This research provides valuable insights for policy interventions to improve the treatment of teachers in public school districts and promote educational equity.

Keywords

• teacher shortage
• geographic visualization of student-teacher rate
• spatial mismatch index model