Professionalism and the Public Good

Professionalism and the Public Good: A Brief History of Teacher Certification (click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By David L. Angus Edited by Jeffrey Mirel Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, 2001   Briefing Good teaching really makes a difference. Studies of teacher effectiveness show that students who get the best teachers have a significantly greater chance of succeeding in school. But does publicly regulated teacher training and licensure assure … Read More

Home Environments for Learning

Walberg, H.J. & Paik, S.J. 1997. Home environments for learning. In: Walberg, H.J. & Haertel, G.D., eds. Psychology and educational practice, p. 356-68. Berkeley, CA, McCutchan Publishing. This chapter emphasizes the influence of the home environment on learning within and outside school. It summarizes research on the home environment including home-based reinforcement, home instruction, homework, and other educational and psychological activities in the home. This work suggests that alterable features of the home environment may be changed to … Read More

Why students in some countries do better

(click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By Ludger Woessman Education Next, Summer 2001.   Briefing “Why Do Students in Some Countries Do Better?” Other countries usually have a national ministry of education that sets forth uniform education goals and standards, but not here. Our Constitution leaves authority over schools to the states, which delegate much authority to local school districts, which leave much discretion to principals and teachers. This local … Read More

Teacher Certification Reconsidered

Teacher Certification Reconsidered: Stumbling for Quality (click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By Kate Walsh Baltimore, MD: The Abell Foundation, October, 2001.   Briefing Policymakers and the public assume that trained and certified teachers are better teachers. Aspiring teachers spend years taking education courses. Billions are spent on training programs. Public schools in all states are required to hire certified teachers. But is there evidence that trained and certified (some … Read More

The Impact of Funding Adequacy Litigation

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By Richard Phelps, Ph.D. Economist Education Consumers Consultants Network   As one may recall from history class, the U.S. constitution includes no mention of education. Therefore, as one may also recall from history class, that issue remains in the domain of our country’s original founding entities, the states. Most state constitutions do provide some general, vague guarantee for the public provision of education. But, most of these constitutions were written between the late 1700s and late 1800s, when … Read More

Court-Ordered Spending Brings More of the Same

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(click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Richard Phelps, Ph.D. Economist Education Consumers Consultants Network   Briefing Attorneys advocating increased public school spending for poor children spent years arguing an equity case. Their contention was that children in poor communities are treated inequitably because the tax base generates inadequate school funding–a violation of the equal-protection provisions in some state constitutions. But state judges typically found no language requiring equity and … Read More

Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Educational Testing Programs

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By Richard Phelps, Ph.D. Economist Education Consumers Consultants Network   Benefit-cost analysis is imbedded in all studies that ask the essential question of an activity, “Is it worth doing?” Benefit-cost analysis is a set of techniques, philosophy, and logic that can impose an order and rigor on the process used to answer the essential question. The logic of benefit-cost analysis is that of the accountant’s spreadsheet. Indeed, one could accurately describe it as economists’ accounting method. The essential … Read More

Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Educational Testing Programs

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(click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Richard Phelps, Ph.D. Economist Education Consumers Consultants Network   Briefing The Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act requires annual testing in grades 3-8, so now there is a huge controversy about how much all of that testing will cost. Some studies estimate costs of nearly $1800 per student and others are in the $10 to $25 range. Talk about differences of opinion! … Read More

How Science Informs Reading Instruction

How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Keith Rayner, Barbara R. Foorman, Charles A. Perfetti, David Pesetsky, and Mark S. Seidenberg. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Vol. 2, No. 2, November 2001   Briefing The greatest weakness of the public schools is their continuing ineffectiveness in reading instruction. During the course of children’s school careers, very many of their academic and … Read More

Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge

(click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) The Secretary’s Annual Report on Teacher Quality Office of Postsecondary Education Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Education, 2002   Briefing Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge is a U. S. Department of Education (USDOE) report on the quality of America’s teacher training. Drawing upon the data compiled under Title II of the 1998 Higher Education Act, the report is a guide to the … Read More

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