Whether improved local economic conditions lead to better student outcomes is theoretically ambiguous and will depend on how schools use additional revenues and how students and teachers respond to rising private sector wages. The Texas boom in shale oil and gas drilling, with its large and localized effects on wages and the tax base, provides a…

Compares Australian academic salaries and those throughout the rest of the English-speaking world; examines movements in prices and community wages; and compares salaries in similar occupations in the public sector. Examines the changing nature of academic salaries. (JOW)

Summarizes conclusions authors of the papers in this theme issue have drawn about the measurement quality and potential for linkage with teacher pay of three sets of teacher assessments and the feasibility of using these assessments as the framework for a knowledge-and skill-based pay system. (SLD)