The magnitude of variation in the quality of teachers, even within each school, is startling. Teachers who work in a given school, and therefore teach students with similar demographic characteristics, can be responsible for increases in math and reading levels that range from a low of one-half year to a high of one and a half years of learning…

Argues that failure to improve the quality of public education since publication of "A Nation at Risk" has cost the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized growth. Asserts that policymakers must look beyond the largely ineffective efforts to improve school quality by increasing expenditures and reducing class size.…

Two decades of research into educational production function have revealed that variations in school expenditures are not systematically related to educational background, teaching experience, or class size; nor are better teachers paid more than lesser ones. School decision-making must move away from input directed policies to ones providing…