Does High School Facility Quality Affect Student Achievement?: A Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Model

The authors contribute to research on school building quality and student achievement by examining facility quality and student math achievement during the final two years of high school. Utilizing a nationally representative U.S. database of student achievement and school quality, the authors perform statistical analysis to estimate the independent effect of facility disrepair on student growth in mathematics over those two years, accounting for various covariates at both the student and school levels. They found no evidence of a direct effect of facility disrepair on student mathematics achievement and instead propose a mediated effects model to explain the relationship between school building quality and student achievement.