Discussions of school finance have been seriously hampered by an inability to relate inputs to student performance. Defining "adequacy" in funding and resources is virtually impossible. There are real problems with U.S. education (declining school performance, enormous school income disparities, and ever-increasing costs) that should be…

To improve educational research, this article suggests using an industrial model to analyze the educational system. Questions arising from such a model--involving inputs, outputs, prices, technology, consumer characteristics, and intra-industry structure--are related to existing educational research and to needed future research. (Author/RW)

Uses data from Third International Mathematics and Science Study to compare performance in different schooling systems. Finds general problems with the efficiency of resource usage similar to those found previously in the United States. Effects do not appear to be determined, for example, by school policies that involve compensatory application of…

Defends an earlier argument concerning statistical analysis and its use in influencing educational policy and resource allocation for improving student performance. The original argument states that there is no meaningful relationship between resources and performance: throwing money at schools is not tantamount to improving them. (GLR)

The states exhibit policy variations affecting school districts' local environment. This paper develops a theoretical model demonstrating that bias induced by omitting relevant state characteristics is greater in state-level analyses than in less aggregate studies. Aggregation to the state level inflates the coefficients on school input variables.…

Many governments worldwide have dramatically increased resources devoted to improving educational quality. However, by concentrating on inputs and ignoring incentives within schools, resources have resulted in little overall improvement in student achievement. Reviews U.S. and international evidence on the effectiveness of such input policies,…

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.…

Attention to the quality of human capital in different countries naturally leads to concerns about how school policies relate to student performance. The data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study provide a way of comparing performance in different schooling systems. The results of analyses of educational production functions…

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…

The leading school reform policy in the United States revolves around strong accountability of schools with consequences for performance. The federal government's involvement through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reinforces the prior movement of many states toward policies based on measured student achievement. Analysis of state achievement…

Current dissatisfaction with operations of the New York City school system calls for policy proposals based on a better understanding of the system, rather than on economic issues. Any policy proposals aimed at reform must describe the goals of suggested programs and indicate how they relate to the goals of other programs. An evaluation of student…

Chapter one of this study of the education of minorities in the United States delineates the past record of the educational system in equating the educational levels of whites and minorities. It also sets the background of the educational system in terms of the dynamics of urban areas and the financial problems faced by school systems. Within…

Test-based accountability systems are now a central feature of U.S. education policy. Accountability systems are implemented as a way of improving student outcomes through new, highly visible incentives. This paper characterizes the incentives of different state accountability systems and reviews the existing evidence about outcomes. The question…

An 8-year study of academic achievement, student performance, and education costs in rural northeastern Brazil investigated the presumption that students automatically perform better when more school resources are provided. Two main topics were examined: the success of EDURURAL, an educational intervention project in rural Brazil sponsored by the…