The one strong relationship revealed or assumed by Education Production Function Research – see Section 5 in Chapter 1 – is that between Educational Outcomes and Socio-Economic Status, which are strongly positively correlated.

If MERA was a success in providing a higher basic level of education, then the correlation between Socio-Economic Status and Educational Outcomes should have weakened over time as the reforms took effect.

In section 8 of Chapter 4 eight factors in efficiency measurement were identified. The first factor was: the degree and direction of the correlation between the inputs (as priced) and the outputs (as priced). Holding the other seven factors fixed will allow correlation between multiple parameters on one side (inputs) and multiple parameters on the second side (outputs) to be estimated or measured and compared over time.

The analysis suggests that rather than weakening over time the relationship between Socio-Economic Status and Educational Outcomes has actually strengthened in Massachusetts both before and after MERA.