Empirical evidence on the effects of compensation reform is somewhat scarce. Most U.S. public school teachers are paid according to rigid schedules that determine pay based solely on seniority and academic credentials. In unionized school districts, these schedules are set by collective bargaining agreements. In 2011 when the Wisconsin state…

This study examines whether principals' movements and school achievement are associated with their salaries. Predictors of principal salaries were examined using three years of panel data. Results from a fixed-effects regression analysis suggest that principals who moved to school leadership positions in other districts leveraged higher salaries…

In this issue brief, the authors explore how former foster youth in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa are faring in the labor market and what explains the variability in employment outcomes for these youth. First, they describe trends in former foster youths' employment from age 17 to 24. Then, they consider how former foster youths' characteristics…

In this article, we consider how the economic return to a college education varies across members of the U.S. population. Based on principles of comparative advantage, scholars commonly presume that positive selection is at work, that is, individuals who are most likely to select into college also benefit most from college. Net of observed…

Individual variation in labor supply can arise from more than just a choice among discrete occupation groups, especially given the joint process of wage determination and time allocation. Other factors can include differential preferences for earnings, the time length of work and other related occupational attributes. Using data from the Wisconsin…

Over the past two decades, an innovative approach to workforce development known as sectoral employment has emerged, resulting in the creation of industry-specific training programs that prepare unemployed and underskilled workers for skilled positions and connect them with employers seeking to fill such vacancies. In 2003, with funding from the…

In this essay, the author explains how teaching assistant (TA) unions work to the benefit not only of the graduate students who are their members but also of the writing programs that employ them. While university administrations understand unions to be bothersome at best and forces of evil at their worst, unions are essential to the maintenance…

ALL PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PERSONNEL AND A RANDOM SAMPLE OF CITIZENS FROM AN EASTERN WISCONSIN SUBURB AND A NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN RURAL COMMUNITY WERE SURVEYED BY AN 88 ITEM OPINION QUESTIONNAIRE TO COMPARE THE PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS AND CITIZENS IN REGARD TO PROBLEMS AND ISSUES OF EDUCATIONAL VIEWPOINT, THE TASK OF THE SCHOOL, AND DIFFERENTIAL…

The conceptualization and measurement of key job characteristics has not changed greatly for most social scientists since the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and Quality of Employment surveys were created, despite their recognized limitations. However, debates over the roles of job skill requirements, technology, and new management practices in…

This Wisconsin edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…

A study sought to determine how graduates of vocational, technical, and adult education (VTAE) programs fared in the work force as compared with a national comparison group. The secondary purpose of the study was to ascertain the feasibility and appropriateness of using existing data bases to conduct follow-up research of vocational education…

A study examined the impact of student employment on classroom knowledge. During the study, the researcher administered a branching questionnaire to 1,577 juniors and seniors from four high schools in Wisconsin, 59.6 percent of whom were working at the time of the survey and 14.1 percent of whom had worked during the past year. Despite the…

Observations of schools and the economies of various countries and regions (including the Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States) suggest that the following generally accepted principles may be called hoaxes: (1) great numbers of new emerging jobs of the future will require much higher skill levels for workers; (2)…

The effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs was examined by using a hypothetical-firm model called the Tax and Incentives Model-Enterprise Zones (TAIM-ez) model to analyze the value of enterprise zone incentives to businesses across the United States and especially in the 13 states that had substantial enterprise zone programs by 1990. The…

The practices and perceptions of Wisconsin employers regarding welfare recipients were examined. First, 500 employers outside the Milwaukee metropolitan area were interviewed by telephone. Those data were merged with data from a survey of Milwaukee-area employers, resulting in a statewide sample of about 1,250 Wisconsin employers (25%, 35%, and…