This study analyzes resource allocation within schools, and it is one of the first in the literature to analyze the equity of monetary resources at the individual student level. The study calculates teacher resource expenditures (TREs) per pupil by allocating teacher salaries to individual students for each high school student in a large urban public school district. Next, the study compares the degree of within-school variation in per-pupil TREs to the variation between schools and concludes that the variation within schools is much larger than the variation between schools. The study then uses Berne and Stiefel's (1984) equity evaluation framework and develops an analytic approach that is appropriate for conducting a within-school equity analysis of per-pupil TREs. The findings indicate that inequities in the allocation of teacher salaries at the student level do exist. Specifically, the study finds violations of horizontal equity, vertical equity for low-income students, and equal opportunity for students of differing achievement levels. These findings also suggest that district leaders may be unaware of how resources are ultimately allocated to students.

This study also evaluates the equity of the within-school allocation of specific resources to identify if resources are equitably allocated in academic courses that are critical for academic success. This study evaluates the equity of the allocation of class size, teacher experience, and social capital in students' English and math courses only as well as the number of advanced placement (AP) courses taken by students, which indicates access to rigorous curricula. In analyzing the equity of these specific resources within each school in the district, this study determines if multiple resource advantages or disadvantages exist for some students.

Findings indicate that multiple resource inequities may exist for low-performing, low-income, and minority students. Further, the study finds that schools with greater socioeconomic and racial diversity have more occurrences of within-school resource inequities for low-income and minority students than schools with homogeneous student populations. The study is among the first to analyze the equity of the within-school allocation of multiple resources simultaneously to gain a better understanding of whether students in the same school receive equitable resources.