Evidence on the effectiveness of school inputs remains inconclusive, partly due to the challenge of identification as families sort themselves into school districts and resources are potentially allocated to compensate (or reinforce) differences in pupil abilities. Using variation in school resources induced by the location of waterfalls in…

Examines the experiences of New York State school districts that increased student participation between 1992 and 1996 in a statewide testing program. Increased participation rates were associated with modest declines in the percentage of passing students, unchanged dropout rates, similar spending patterns, and increased staffing levels. (MLH)

Discusses problems with reallocating public resources for education in developing countries from higher to lower education levels. There is a case for maintaining and even increasing higher education spending, as long as public funds can be directed to research and other "public good" functions. The true social rate of return to certain…

Performs empirical tests of the Mexican federal government's state-level education expenditures and examines changes in allocation patterns by comparing 1980 and 1990 cross-sections. Unlike other Latin American countries, where formulated grants are made to subnational jurisdictions, the Mexican allocation pattern seems neither rational nor…

In production-function studies, inputs (like teacher salaries) trump inputs contributing directly to educational output (like books or instructional materials). Educators prefer inputs that benefit them. Parents have been insufficiently strong on behalf of books. Increasing parent influences over expenditure allocations might increase schools'…