This is a study of district internal salary distribution practices and its effect on retention. The study is a replication study as recommended by Jacobson (1986) and Lankford and Wyckoff (1997) whereby their research shows the prevalence of "back loading" and ineffectiveness relative to retention. In the case of this study, the…

In the first chapter, I analyze the growth patterns of postsecondary education costs in re-cent years. It shows the trends of college revenue, expenditure and other financial items using data drawn from the Delta Data Project between 1987 and 2010. Connections between various categories of revenue/spending and state-level macroeconomic indicators…

In a time of limited means and continued calls for higher student achievement, school leaders need to be wise in their use of resources. Earlier research has called for greater levels of teacher preparation, and, while many school districts provide greater compensation for teachers with graduate degrees, some districts have begun phasing out this…

This dissertation consists of three essays on education and macroeconomics. The first chapter analyzes whether public education financing systems can account for large differences among developed countries in earnings inequality and intergenerational earnings persistence. I first document facts about public education in the U.S. and Norway, which…