DOCSLIB.ORG

Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance 2011 Report Driving School Reform

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance 2011 Report Driving School Reform DRIVING SCHOOL REFORM HARVARD’S PROGRAM ON EDUCATION POLICY AND GOVERNANCE 2011 REPORT EN Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) Director Faculty Affiliates Research Affiliates Paul E. Peterson Roland Fryer Christopher Berry Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government Professor of Economics, Harvard University Assistant Professor, Harris School Harvard University Nathan Glazer University of Chicago Editor-in-Chief, Education Next Professor of Education, Emeritus, David Campbell Harvard University Associate Professor of Political Science Deputy Director Christopher Jencks University of Notre Dame Martin R. West Professor of Social Policy, Harvard University Rajashri Chakrabarti Assistant Professor of Education Richard Light Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor of Education, Harvard University Jay Greene Endowed Chair and Head of the Department of Advisory Committee Education Next Education Reform, University of Arkansas Jeb Bush (Chair) Chester E. Finn Jr. Frederick Hess Foundation for Excellence in Education Senior Editor Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Cory Booker Marci Kanstoroom Studies, American Enterprise Institute Mayor, Newark, NJ Executive Editor Executive Editor, Education Next Bruce Douglas Michael J. Petrilli William G. Howell Harvard Development Company Executive Editor Professor of American Politics, Harris School University of Chicago Timothy Draper Carol Peterson Caroline M. Hoxby Draper Fisher Jurvetson Managing Editor Professor in Economics, Stanford University Peter Flanigan Kathryn Ciffolillo Brian Jacob UBS Securities LLC Manuscript Editor C. Boyden Gray Professor of Education Policy Gray & Schmitz LLP Staff Ford School, University of Michigan Ludger Woessmann Phil Handy Antonio M. Wendland Professor of Economics of Education Winter Park Capital Company Associate Director University of Munich Roger Hertog Ronald C. Berry Patrick J. Wolf Alliance Capital Management Research, Web & Data Manager Al Hubbard Professor and Endowed Chair in School Choice Ashley E. Inman Department of Education Reform E&A Industries Staff Assistant University of Arkansas Gisèle Huff Jaquelin Hume Foundation Postdoctoral Fellows Project Funders and Contributors John Kirtley Matthew M. Chingos Bodman Foundation KLH Capital, L.P. Ph.D., Harvard University Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation Steven Klinsky Guido Schwerdt New Mountain Capital Ph.D., European University Institute Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Deborah McGriff Martina Viarengo The Kern Family Foundation NewSchoools Venture Fund Ph.D., London School of Economics The Kovner Foundation Terry M. Moe and Political Science Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Hoover Institution, Stanford University Jaquelin Hume Foundation James Piereson Harvard Research Fellows Searle Freedom Trust William E. Simon Foundation Michael Henderson William E. Simon Foundation Jerry Rappaport Department of Government and Inequality Program Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón Taubman Center for State and Local Government Charitable Foundation Public Policy Program–HKS Thomas W. Smith Foundation Nina S. Rees Elena Llaudet Smith Richardson Foundation Knowledge Universe Education Department of Government The Walton Family Foundation, Inc. Gerard Robinson Daniel Nadler U.S. Department of Education Secretary of Education, Department of Government Commonwealth of Virginia Omar Wasow Department of Government and Department of African and African American Studies Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) Harvard Kennedy School, Room T-304 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: (617) 495-7976, Fax: (617) 496-4428 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/ http://www.educationnext.org From the Director Driving School Reform arvard’s Program on Education Policy and that may help focus HGovernance (PEPG) continues to have numerous public attention on the opportunities to shape the direction of school reform. Its educational needs of former research and postdoctoral fellows are staffing think our very best students tanks in Washington, D. C., and holding key positions as well as those have at universities across the country. Its studies have been been left behind. The PEPG’s distinctive role is quoted in the halls of Congress and state legislatures, cited PEPG poll of public to provide high-quality research by judges in significant court cases, and reported in major opinion revealed a slide on critical issues that deserve media outlets. Its journal, Education Next, is thriving on in public satisfaction national attention. its newly revamped website, reaching a dramatically larger with the nation’s schools audience than ever before. The number ofEducation to an all-time low. Surprisingly, it also found a high— Next Twitter followers grows steadily, and a new social and growing—level of support for online learning. networking website has been launched. Of all those Entering its 14th year, and celebrating the 10th engaged in school reform, Education Next was the first to anniversary of Education Next, Harvard’s PEPG is proud have an application for the iPad. of its record and looks forward to continued growth and Others blog, tweet, and network, of course. PEPG’s unbending commitment to a school reform mission it distinctive role is to provide high-quality research on has had from its beginnings. In the pages that follow, we critical issues that deserve national attention. A PEPG provide a snapshot of the many ways it has been helping research fellow demonstrated that the constitutionally to drive school reform. mandated class-size reduction in Florida did not yield educational benefits commensurate with its cost. PEPG researchers found that the United States ranks 31st in the world in turning out high school students who perform at the highest level in math, a finding —Paul E. Peterson Inside Conference on Merit Pay . 2 Findings from the 4th Public Opinion Survey. 4 U.S. Math Performance in Global Perspective . 6 Education Next Celebrates 10th Anniversary . 8 Shaping Court Decisions. 10 Program Fellows on the Cutting Edge. .12 Class Size Research by Postdoctoral Fellow. 14 From the Press . 15 PEPG Friends. 16 PEPG Fellows and Alumni. 17 Conference on Merit Pay Will it work? Is it politically viable? arvard’s PEPG hosted a national conference on State of New Jersey, identified the surprising extent to which HJune 3-4, 2010 that examined the political, economic, the Obama administration’s support for merit pay has gone and educational issues associated with teacher performance pay. well beyond anything the president indicated during his The conference attracted over 100 participants and was campaign for national office. In his comments on the paper, covered by several media outlets, including the New York Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Times and the Washington Post. Education on the Domestic Policy Council, agreed that the In the opening session, Andrew Smarick of the Fordham administration was searching for creative ways to promote Institute, now Deputy Commissioner of Education for the needed school reforms. Roberto Rodriguez (White House) said that the surprisingly robust merit pay policies of the Obama administration reflect growing divisions on this issue within the Democratic party. PEPG deputy director Above, L to R: Alan Altshuler (Harvard), Martin R. West reports that Kenneth Wong (Brown) and Matthew when more effective teachers Springer (Vanderbilt) listen attentively leave the profession, they earn to discussion of the ways in which higher salaries from their new compensation policies limit the supply of National & World Affairs employer than less effective effective teachers. Education teachers do. The mystique of merit pay PEPG in the News Panel probes programs aimed at improving student performance By Colleen Walsh Harvard Staff Writer Wednesday, June 9, 2010 National & World Affairs Education Study: N.Y. teacher performance pay TheThe mystique mystique of merit pay program flops ofPanel merit probes pay programs aimed at improving student The Uncertain Impact of Merit Pay performance By Valerie Strauss ByBy Colleen Colleen Walsh Walsh for Teachers Harvard Staff Writer By Edward L. Glaeser A paper prepared by two Colum- HarvardWednesday, JuneStaff 9, 2010 bia University researchers for a Writer, Wednesday, Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and June 9, 2010 Governance held a two-day conference on recent education conference at Harvard University said that the In a two-day teacher merit pay. I remain convinced that seminar at Race to the Top was wise to include a push New York City Bonus Program, which attempts to raise student Harvard last week for merit pay, because it shakes up the com- (June 3-4), scholars, politicians, pensation status quo, which is both rigid and achievement by paying teachers for it, was unsuccessful. Why and educators gathered at Harvard replete with bonuses for things, like graduate Kennedy School (HKS) to discuss the degrees, that are statistically unrelated to shouldn’t student achievement be included in the evaluation and value and feasibility of performance student outcomes. The program brought Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer compensation of teachers? pay.Stephanie The Mitchell/Harvard Harvard Staff Photographer Program on incentives up for discussion, and no Andrew Smarick (right) speaksEducation fromAndrew theSmarick podium (right) Policy speaks on the fromand thornythe
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Critical Issues in Assessing Teacher Compensation Jason Richwine, Ph.D., and Andrew G
    No. 2638 January 10, 2012 Critical Issues in Assessing Teacher Compensation Jason Richwine, Ph.D., and Andrew G. Biggs, Ph.D. Abstract: A November 2011 Heritage Foundation report— “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers”— presented data on teacher salaries and benefits in order to Talking Points inform debates about teacher compensation reform. The report concluded that public-school teacher compensation • A November 2011 Heritage Foundation report— is far ahead of what comparable private-sector workers “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers”—presented data on teacher salaries enjoy, and that recruiting more effective teachers will be more and benefits in order to inform debates about difficult than simply raising salaries. The debate over the teacher-compensation reform. The report con- report’s findings has generated substantive inquiries as well cluded that public teacher compensation is far as some misconceptions. Here, the report’s authors respond to ahead of what private-sector workers enjoy, questions and concerns, in the process showing that certain and that recruiting more effective teachers will critical accusations—such as undercounting teachers’ work be more difficult than simply raising salaries. hours or overestimating retirement benefits—are simply false. • The debate over the report’s findings has gen- The broader implication of the authors’ research is that the erated substantive inquiries as well as some current teacher compensation system is not working. The misconceptions. Here, the report’s authors United States needs a more rational system that pays teach- respond to questions and concerns, showing ers according to their performance. that certain critical accusations—such as under- counting teachers’ work hours, or overestimat- ing retirement benefits—are simply false.
    [Show full text]
  • Teacher Quality 2.0
    Teacher Quality 2.0 A MERICAN E NTERPRISE I NSTITUTE Special Report 4 Anticipating Innovation in Teacher Evaluation Systems Lessons for Researchers and Policymakers By Michael Hansen | March 2013 Special Report 4 Teacher Quality 2.0 Foreword There is incredible interest and energy today in addressing issues of human capital in K–12 education, especially in the way we prepare, evaluate, pay, and manage teachers. States have been developing and implementing systems intended to improve these practices, with a con - siderable push from foundations and the federal government. As we start to rethink outdated tenure, evaluation, and pay systems, we must take care to respect how uncertain our efforts are and avoid tying our hands in ways that we will regret in the decade ahead. Well-intentioned legislators too readily replace old credential- and paper- based micromanagement with mandates that rely heavily on still-nascent observational evalu - ations and student outcome measurements that pose as many questions as answers. The flood of new legislative activity is in many respects welcome, but it does pose a risk that premature solutions and imperfect metrics are being cemented into difficult-to-change statutes. AEI’s Teacher Quality 2.0 series seeks to reinvigorate our now-familiar conversations about teacher quality by looking at today’s reform efforts as constituting initial steps on a long path forward. As we conceptualize it, “Teacher Quality 2.0” starts from the premise that while we have made great improvements in the past 10 years in creating systems and tools that allow us to evaluate, compensate, and deploy educators in smarter ways, we must not let today’s “reform” conventions around hiring, evaluation, or pay limit school and system lead - ers’ ability to adapt more promising staffing and school models.
    [Show full text]
  • God's Own Country Is Francis’ First Feature Film Project
    GOD’S OWN COUNTRY A film by Francis Lee UK • 104 min. • 2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION: Sundance Film Festival 2017 Berlin International Film Festival 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival 2017 Provincetown International Film Festival 2017 Outfest Los Angeles 2017 (Opening Night) Distribution Contacts: Samuel Goldwyn Films Ryan Boring, [email protected] ​ New York Publicity Contacts: Cinetic Marketing Ryan Werner, [email protected] ​ Courtney Ott, [email protected] ​ Bingham Bryant, [email protected] ​ God’s Own Country Production Notes ​ Logline Francis Lee’s feature film debut is a contemporary tale of self-discovery and emotional-awakening set on the sheep farming hills of rural England. Synopsis Johnny Saxby works long hours in brutal isolation on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. When a handsome Romanian migrant worker arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself having to deal with emotions he has never felt before. An intense relationship forms between the two which could change Johnny’s life forever. Long Synopsis Spring. Yorkshire. Johnny Saxby (24) carries the weight of his family’s dilapidating sheep farm alone. His formidable grandmother Deirdre (70) is now too old to work the land, whilst his father Martin (50), once a capable farmer, struggles in the aftermath of a stroke. Socially and geographically isolated and overwhelmed by the responsibility, yet too proud to accept any help, Johnny numbs his frustration with drink, dope and casual sex.
    [Show full text]
  • Helpdesk Report: Education Quality and Economic Growth: a Review of the Work of Eric Hanushek Date
    Helpdesk Report: Education Quality and Economic Growth: A review of the work of Eric Hanushek Date: Friday 24 May 2013 Query: Provide a review of Eric A. Hanushek’s work with short summaries of his papers and an overview of main conclusions. Purpose: To provide a review of the work of Eric A. Hanushek Content 1. Overview 2. The importance of cognitive skills/educational achievement for economic growth 3. Teacher Quality 4. School Quality 5. Comparisons of US and international student achievement 6. Equity and achievement in the US: Race and Poverty 7. School Location 8. Finance and student achievement 9. Other useful resources 10. Additional information 1. Overview This helpdesk report provides an annotated bibliography of Eric A. Hanushek’s recent work. The focus of this report is on the papers written in the last five years (since 2008). Full versions of the papers included in this report and the papers published by Hanushek before 2008 are available from his website: http://hanushek.stanford.edu/publications/academic An overview of the sections of the report and its key themes is provided below. In relevant sections, the papers are sub-divided into those which have an international focus inclusive of developing countries and those which have a focus on the US or high income countries. They are also categorised by the following document types: general audience articles; academic articles; books and working papers. The key themes are as follows: The importance of cognitive skills/ educational achievement for economic growth For most of the 20th century, the international debate over the economic consequences of schooling concentrated on the amount of school attained or, simply, the quantity of schooling of the population.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Quality and Economic Growth
    EDUCATION QUALITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Education Quality and Economic Growth Education Quality and Economic Growth Eric A. Hanushek Ludger Wößmann THE WORLD BANK Washington, DC © 2007 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail: [email protected] All rights reserved 1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. The fi nd- ings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgement on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank encourages dis- semination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750-4470; Internet: www.copyright.com.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Rock Music - the 2000S
    The History of Rock Music - The 2000s The History of Rock Music: The 2000s History of Rock Music | 1955-66 | 1967-69 | 1970-75 | 1976-89 | The early 1990s | The late 1990s | The 2000s | Alpha index Musicians of 1955-66 | 1967-69 | 1970-76 | 1977-89 | 1990s in the US | 1990s outside the US | 2000s Back to the main Music page (Copyright © 2006 Piero Scaruffi) Bards and Dreamers (These are excerpts from my book "A History of Rock and Dance Music") Bards of the old world order TM, ®, Copyright © 2008 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. Traditionally, the purposefulness and relevance of a singer-songwriter were defined by something unique in their lyrical acumen, vocal skills and/or guitar or piano accompaniment. In the 1990s this paradigm was tested by the trend towards larger orchestrastion and towards electronic orchestration. In the 2000s it became harder and harder to give purpose and meaning to a body of work mostly relying on the message. Many singer-songwriters of the 2000s belonged to "Generation X" but sang and wrote for members of "Generation Y". Since "Generation Y" was inherently different from all the generations that had preceeded it, it was no surprise that the audience for these singer-songwriters declined. Since the members of "Generation X" were generally desperate to talk about themselves, it was not surprising that the number of such singer- songwriters increased. The net result was an odd disconnect between the musician and her or his target audience. The singer-songwriters of the 2000s generally sounded more "adult" because... they were.
    [Show full text]
  • ART WORLD AIDS DAY December 1, 2012
    DAY WITH(OUT) ART WORLD AIDS DAY December 1, 2012 To mark its 23rd annual observance of Day Without Art and World AIDS Day, l.a.Eyeworks invited dozens of friends from the arts and services communities to select a song they would like to have played to commemorate this important day. Each person was invited to submit not only a song, but a description of themselves and a note about the selection if they liked. l.a.Eyeworks thanks each person who took time to participate in this project, and expresses the deepest gratitude to every musician who has created the magic of these songs. Neil Denari Architect Periel Aschenbrand Author, Entrepreneur Keep Your Dreams • Suicide I Say a Little Prayer • Aretha Franklin Tom Knechtel Artist Weba Garretson Singer, Songwriter and Singing Teacher Can’t Get Used To Losing You • Andy Williams A Salty Dog • Procol Harum “We lost Andy Williams this year; and even though it seems to “The orchestration and vocal on this song is by Gary Brooker, be about romantic love, the sentiment holds true for many situations.” and it is one of the best; a true example of vocal expression in service Bruce Yonemoto of telling a moving story. Though it's about a sea adventure gone awry, Artist it reminds me of the questing spirit we had before AIDS, and the many Storm Sequence • The Red Krayola friends who embodied that spirit that we've loved and lost.” Liz Young Artist Jeff Gauntt Artist and Feline Aficionado The Windmills of Your Mind • Dusty Springfield Don’t Think • Lali Puna Kyle Fitzpatrick Writer, Dog Lover, and Sometimes Actor Roy Dowell Artist Ball’r (Madonna - Free Zone) • DJ Sprinkles Ngiyakuthanda Papa Wemba • Brenda Fassie & Papa Wemba “Admittedly a Madonna LP superfan, this song represents all “This year I am selecting a very happy song.
    [Show full text]
  • Issue 195.Pmd
    email: [email protected] website: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month. NIGHTSHIFT Issue 195 October Oxford’s Music Magazine 2011 BORDERVILLE “As soon as you put a giant insect on stage it all gets a bit Stonehenge” Oxford’sOxford’s baroquebaroque poppop heroesheroes bringbring Kafka’sKafka’s `Metamorphosis’`Metamorphosis’ toto lifelife Also inside: Introducing AGNESS PIKE Remembering THE NUBILES RAPTURE on the move plus All your Oxford music news and reviews and six pages of local gigs NIGHTSHIFT: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. Phone: 01865 372255 NEWNEWSS Nightshift: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU Phone: 01865 372255 email: [email protected] Online: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Truck Store is set to bow out with a weekend of live music on the 1st and 2nd October. Check with the shop for details. THE SUMMER FAYRE FREE FESTIVAL due to be held in South Park at the beginning of September was cancelled two days beforehand TRUCK STORE on Cowley Road after the organisers were faced with is set to close this month and will a severe weather warning for the be relocating to Gloucester Green weekend. Although the bad weather as a Rapture store. The shop, didn’t materialise, Gecko Events, which opened back in February as based in Milton Keynes, took the a partnership between Rapture in decision to cancel the festival rather Witney and the Truck organisation, than face potentially crippling will open in the corner unit at losses. With the festival a free Gloucester Green previously event the promoters were relying on bar and food revenue to cover occupied by Massive Records and KARMA TO BURN will headline this year’s Audioscope mini-festival.
    [Show full text]
  • 2005 & Ggovernanceovernance Program on Education Policy & Governance
    HARVARD UNIVERSITY Program on Annual Report EducationEducation PPolicyolicy 2005 & GovernanceGovernance Program on Education Policy & Governance Director: Paul E. Peterson, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government, Harvard University Deputy Director: William Howell, Associate Professor of Government, Harvard University Advisory Committee: Bruce Kovner, Chair, Caxton Corporation Cory Booker, Booker, Rabinowitz Bob Boruch, University of Pennsylvania John Brandl, University of Minnesota Peter Flanigan, UBS AG Investor Relations C. Boyden Gray, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering Phil Handy, Florida Board of Education Roger Hertog, Alliance Capital Management Gisele Huff, Jaquelin Hume Foundation Lisa Graham Keegan, The Keegan Company Deborah McGriff, Edison Schools Terry Moe, Hoover Institution and the Department of Political Science, Stanford University Lawrence Patrick III, Black Alliance for Educational Options Jerry Rappaport, J. L. Rappaport Charitable Foundation Faculty Affiliates: Caroline Minter Hoxby, Professor of Economics, Harvard University Brian Jacob, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University Christopher Jencks, Professor of Social Policy, Harvard University Richard Light, Professor of Education, Harvard University Donald Rubin, Professor of Statistics, Harvard University Staff: Antonio Wendland, Associate Director Rajashri Chakrabarti, Postdoctoral Fellow Martin R. West, Program Fellow Carol Peterson, Managing Editor, Education next Mark Linnen, Staff Assistant Research Affiliates: Christopher Berry, Assistant Professor,
    [Show full text]
  • Led Zeppelin R.E.M. Queen Feist the Cure Coldplay the Beatles The
    Jay-Z and Linkin Park System of a Down Guano Apes Godsmack 30 Seconds to Mars My Chemical Romance From First to Last Disturbed Chevelle Ra Fall Out Boy Three Days Grace Sick Puppies Clawfinger 10 Years Seether Breaking Benjamin Hoobastank Lostprophets Funeral for a Friend Staind Trapt Clutch Papa Roach Sevendust Eddie Vedder Limp Bizkit Primus Gavin Rossdale Chris Cornell Soundgarden Blind Melon Linkin Park P.O.D. Thousand Foot Krutch The Afters Casting Crowns The Offspring Serj Tankian Steven Curtis Chapman Michael W. Smith Rage Against the Machine Evanescence Deftones Hawk Nelson Rebecca St. James Faith No More Skunk Anansie In Flames As I Lay Dying Bullet for My Valentine Incubus The Mars Volta Theory of a Deadman Hypocrisy Mr. Bungle The Dillinger Escape Plan Meshuggah Dark Tranquillity Opeth Red Hot Chili Peppers Ohio Players Beastie Boys Cypress Hill Dr. Dre The Haunted Bad Brains Dead Kennedys The Exploited Eminem Pearl Jam Minor Threat Snoop Dogg Makaveli Ja Rule Tool Porcupine Tree Riverside Satyricon Ulver Burzum Darkthrone Monty Python Foo Fighters Tenacious D Flight of the Conchords Amon Amarth Audioslave Raffi Dimmu Borgir Immortal Nickelback Puddle of Mudd Bloodhound Gang Emperor Gamma Ray Demons & Wizards Apocalyptica Velvet Revolver Manowar Slayer Megadeth Avantasia Metallica Paradise Lost Dream Theater Temple of the Dog Nightwish Cradle of Filth Edguy Ayreon Trans-Siberian Orchestra After Forever Edenbridge The Cramps Napalm Death Epica Kamelot Firewind At Vance Misfits Within Temptation The Gathering Danzig Sepultura Kreator
    [Show full text]
  • The False Promise of Class-Size Reduction
    ISTOCKPHOTO/J-ElGAARD The False Promise of Class-Size Reduction Matthew M. Chingos April 2011 WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG The False Promise of Class-Size Reduction Matthew M. Chingos April 2011 Contents 1 Introduction and summary 4 The evidence on class-size reduction 8 CSR: The most expensive school reform 10 Looking ahead 12 References 13 Endnotes 15 About the author and acknowledgements Introduction and summary Class-size reduction, or CSR, is enormously popular with parents, teachers, and the public in general. The latest poll results indicate that 77 percent of Americans think that additional educational dollars should be spent on smaller classes rather than higher teacher salaries.1 Many parents believe that their children will ben- efit from more individualized attention in a smaller class and many teachers find smaller classes easier to manage. The pupil-teacher ratio is an easy statistic for the public to monitor as a measure of educational quality, especially before test-score data became widely available in the last decade. Policymakers across the nation, including those in at least 24 states, have taken these ideas to heart and enacted CSR initiatives at costs upward of billions of dol- lars.2 California allocated $1.5 billion per year in the late 1990s to reduce class size in the early grades. Florida has spent about $20 billion since 2002 reducing class size in every grade from kindergarten through high school.3 The federal govern- ment also has its own program, which provided $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion per year from 1999 to 2001 for CSR in grades K–3.
    [Show full text]
  • The Economics of Education on Judgment Day. Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION Columbia Univ., New York, NY
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 462 748 EA 031 560 AUTHOR Belfield, Clive R.; Levin, Henry M. TITLE The Economics of Education on Judgment Day. Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION Columbia Univ., New York, NY. National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. REPORT NO NCSPE-OP-28 PUB DATE 2001-07-00 NOTE 31p. AVAILABLE FROM For full text: http://www.ncspe.org. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070)-- Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Court Litigation; *Educational Economics; Elementary Secondary Education; Policy Formation; State Courts IDENTIFIERS New York ABSTRACT As an applied discipline based on evidence and guided by economic principles, the ultimate aims of the economics of education should be to influence outside opinion and shape policy. In a major court case based heavily on the economics of education, it can be seen how this knowledge base was interpreted by the New York Supreme Court on public-school funding in "Campaign for Fiscal Equity versus The State of New York" (2001) .In this highly praised ruling, known as the "DeGrasse" decision, the court drew heavily on research evidence, along with direct testimony from noted academic economists and educationalists.-Yet the court also challenged this evidence and testimony on both empirical and methodological grounds. The ruling therefore reflects a considered "outside opinion," and one made by an agency--the judiciary--with substantial influence both on policy and on the views of society at large. This article reviews the economic content of the ruling, that is, what the courts think about the economics of education. It also considers whether the benefits of court-mediated policies exceed the costs, that is, whether economists should view the courts as a good way of influencing policy.
    [Show full text]