Educational reform is a big business in the United States. Parents,
educators, and policymakers generally agree that something must be
done to improve schools, but the consensus ends there. The myriad
of reform documents and policy discussions that have appeared over
the past decade have not helped to pinpoint exactly what should be
done. The case for investment in education is an economic one:
schooling improves the productivity and earnings of individuals and
promotes stronger economic growth and better functioning of
society. Recent trends in schooling have, however, lessened the
value of society's investments as costs have risen dramatically
while student performance has stayed flat or even fallen. The task
is to improve performance while controlling costs. This book is the
culmination of extensive discussions among a panel of economists
led by Eric Hanushek. They conclude that economic considerations
have been entirely absent from the development of educational
policies and that economic reality is sorely needed in discussions
of new policies. The book outlines an improvement plan that
emphasizes changing incentives in schools and gathering information
about effective approaches. Available research and analysis
demonstrates that current central decisionmaking has worked poorly.
Concentrating on inputs such as pupil-teacher ratios or teacher
graduate degrees appears quite inferior to systems that directly
reward performance. Nonetheless, since experience with such
alternatives is very limited, a program of extensive evaluation
appears to be in order. Attempts to institute radical change on the
basis of currently available information involve substantial risks
of failure. Many peopletoday find proposals such as charter
schools, expanded use of merit pay, or educational vouchers to be
appealing. Yet there is little evidence of their effectiveness, and
widespread adoption of these proposals is sure to run into
substantial problems of implementation. Instead of choosing the "
right" approach, this book advocates a more systematic approach of
experimentation, evaluation, and change. In addition to Hanushek,
the contributors are Charles S. Benson, University of California,
Berkeley; Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University; Dean T. Jamison,
UCLA: Henry M. Levin, Stanford University; Rebecca A. Maynard,
University of Pennsylvania; Richard J. Murnane, Harvard University;
Steven G. Rivkin, Amherst College; Richard H. Sabot, Williams
College; Lewis C. Solmon, Milken Institute for Job and Capital
Formation; Anita A. Summers, University of Pennsylvania; Finis
Welch, Texas A&M University; and Barbara L. Wolfe, University
of Wisconsin.
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