Introduction

The topics covered by the chapters of the current book Handbook of Economics in Education , step into some of the most obvious gaps that have become evident with the newly emerging research. While there are antecedents to the work in each of the chapters, recent research has taken the ideas into new and productive areas. The first two chapters cover developments in the econometric methods used and the emerging work with the international test score data. The next two chapters deal with family background and peers as much-researched determinants of educational outcomes beyond the traditional school resource inputs. Next are two chapters addressing specific topics related to the teaching profession: salary setting and licensure. Three chapters address separate institutional features of the school system: educational tracking, school accountability, and the GED as a credential for school dropouts. The final two chapters relate to valuation of school quality on the housing market and to apprenticeship as a specific combination of formal education with work-based training that is widely used in several countries, respectively.