Managing conflicting values: Efficiency and equity trade-off in education reform

Efficiency and equity trade-off reflects the tension between the different sets of competing values in education policy. Despite a substantial body of research on the efficiency-equity trade-off, empirical studies reach little consensus on whether efficiency and equity as policy goals are conflicting in the process of public service provision. Using cost function and student performance data from New Jersey, we examine whether there is any trade-off between the two different values affected by the No Child Left Behind Act. Results reveal that there is efficiency-equity trade-off for eleventh grade, but not for eighth grade. This suggests that the relationship of the two goals can be determined by the function of the educational system, even within a school district.