We use aggregate PISA data for 19 countries over the period 2000-2009 to study whether a higher share of immigrant pupils affects the school performance of natives. We find evidence of a negative and statistically significant relationship. The size of the estimated effect is small: doubling the share of immigrant pupils in secondary schools from…

Many school accountability programs are built on the premise that the sanctions attached to failure will produce higher future student achievement. Furthermore, such programs often include subgroup achievement rules that attempt to hold schools accountable for the performance of all demographic classes of students. This paper looks at two issues:…

Gender segregation in employment may be explained by women's reluctance to choose technical occupations. However, the foundations for career choices are laid much earlier. Educational experts claim that female students are doing better in math and science and are more likely to choose these subjects if they are in single-sex classes. One possible…

Using a unique and very rich PISA dataset from Denmark, we show that the immigrant concentration in the school influences reading and math skills for both immigrant children and native children. Overall, children in schools with a high immigrant concentration score lower on reading and math test scores. The negative effects associated with…

This study investigates how school demographics and their interactions with policies affect the mobility behaviors of public school teachers with various human capital characteristics. Using data from North Carolina from 1995 to 2006, it finds that teachers' career stage and human capital investments dominate their decisions to leave public school…

Critics of school choice argue that cream-skimming will worsen outcomes for those left behind in public schools. Since "high ability" families may have already sorted themselves out of the schools in question, this paper will examine whether existing within-school heterogeneity leaves any scope for cream-skimming to operate. It asks, "given the…

We determine how much observed student performance in microeconomics principles can be attributed, inferentially, to three kinds of student academic "productivity," the instructor, demographics, and unmeasurables. The empirical approach utilizes an ordered probit model that relates student performance in micro to grades in prior…

Analyzes changes in the teacher salary schedules of Michigan school districts between 1970 and 1980. Starting salaries decreased by an average of 20 percent over the decade; maximum salaries decreased by 15 percent. Student enrollment changes were a predictor of the changes in maximum salaries. (MLF)

Tests an interest-group model of public spending by using variations in spending levels across states and counties. Results provide support for this model, in that education spending increases as the number of parents in the electorate increases. An analysis of Texas counties shows that areas with relatively large elderly populations spend less on…

Examines the relationship between three key state policy variables and enrollments in private higher education. Finds that institutional density and low public tuition prices negatively affect enrollments in large, moderately selective private institutions and that state student-aid funding adversely affects enrollments in small, low-selective…

To examine the reasons for declining Scholastic Aptitude Test scores during the past two decades, this paper proposes an empirical achievement model incorporating students' demographic characteristics and an expanding test-taking population. While test scores and participation rates are positively correlated, participation changes over time mask…

Research indicates that Nebraska's rural elementary school districts most in need of funding through the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act's Chapter 2 block grants are least likely to apply, whereas districts with more positive demographic, economic, and educational statistics participate at a higher rate. Differing regional attitudes…

The determinants of Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are estimated for 1982 in a regression analysis correcting for the proportion of students taking the test. Schooling variables and statewide graduation standards proved insignificant. Demographic variables (family size and education levels) proved significant and help explain SAT score decline in…

Using recent personnel data for Washington State K-12 teachers, this study quantifies the relationships among teachers' personal and professional attributes; school districts' financial, institutional, and demographic characteristics; and the retention behavior of teachers employed by these districts. Teacher persistence is positively correlated…

Examines older adults' support for K-12 education, using a national panel of counties over time. The elderly do have the potential to affect educational spending indirectly through where they live. Support for education spending may depend on how the elderly are distributed relative to children among counties. (Contains 15 references.) (MLH)