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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Finances

Overview

  • Influence: Finances
  • Domain: School
  • Sub-Domain: School resourcing
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: The effect of financial inputs by government, parents, philanthropy, etc. on schools

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 4
  • Number of studies: 163
  • Number of students: 2,205,319
  • Number of effects: 740
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.23
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Education Finance Childs & Shakeshaft A meta-analysis of research on the relationship between educational expenditures and student achievement 1986 Educational expenditure 45 2,205,319 417 0.00
Educational Researcher Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald An Exchange: Part I: Does Money Matter? A Meta-Analysis of Studies of the Effects of Differential School Inputs on Student Outcomes 1994 Effect of $500 per student on achievement 38 NA 38 0.70
Dissertation Davis-Beggs The effects of school resources on student achievement 2013 School resources 20 NA 105 0.16
Review of Educational Research Greenwald, Hedges, & Laine The effect of school resources on student achievement 1996 Effect of $500 per student on achievement 60 NA 180 0.14
TOTAL/AVERAGE 163 2,205,319 740 0.25
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