Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies (DELPS) chair Anthony Rolle has been elected vice president of the National Education Finance Academy (NEFA). The academy provides a forum that is truly focused on school finance and enhances education for both young and adult learners. 

Each year, NEFA holds the National Education Finance Conference (NEFC) which provides a venue for collaboration among legislators, postsecondary education, school district and state agency personnel, and professional organizations.  Also included are researchers who are concerned with the importance of equity, efficiency, and adequacy concepts that affect state, local, and federal revenue generation, distribution, and expenditures.

“What an honor to be chosen by nationally and internationally respected scholars who research and teach education finance and economic issues,” said Rolle. “As vice president I am able to serve these scholars, aspiring and well-established, in a capacity that will allow individuals within the organizations to continue providing research results that influence education finance and economic theory, policy and practice.”

Rolle believes it is important to provide positive and affirming role models for aspiring scholars. “Specifically I want to provide as many positive research and professional development opportunities that were provided to me,” said Rolle. “Paying it forward will allow the academic discipline and NEFA to thrive and flourish. 

"Dr. Rolle’s involvement in this professional organization models for our students the importance of engaging professionally and underscores his leadership in education finance," said Dean of the College of Education, Robert McPherson.  "We are proud of his involvement and leadership."

Rolle’s current professional interests contribute to the knowledge of organizational productivity and public finance equity by investigating their under-cultivated dimensions. Specifically, his theoretical policy research explores and improves relative measures of economic efficiency for public schools. Using relative measures of economic efficiency allow models to be developed and assessed that utilize the best performing public schools as the foci of analyses and does not give primacy to the average performing schools of regression-based analyses. Rolle’s empirical policy research explores and applies concepts of vertical equity to efficacy analyses of state education finance mechanisms. Using vertical equity concepts recognizes that socio-demographic differences among communities that affect organizational processes and does not assume that all public schools have the same expenditure priorities.