Researchers using cross-sectional data have failed to produce systematic evidence that teacher salaries affect student outcomes. These studies generally do not account for non-pecuniary job attributes and alternative wage opportunities, which affect the opportunity cost of choosing to teach....

This paper models the impact of state finance systems on the distribution of spending levels across districts. The paper assumes sorting of residents into districts based on demand for school spending rather than income, as most previous studies have done. With this approach, I am able to...

The potential of former AFDC recipients to earn a living wage is central to the success of welfare-to-work programs. Previous studies have found that welfare recipients see little increase in their wages over time. Low wage growth could arise from either low returns to work experience or low...

School accountability—the process of evaluating school performance on the basis of student performance measures—is increasingly prevalent around the world. In the United States, accountability has become a centerpiece of both Democratic and Republican federal administrations' education...

Tax deductions and tax credits for educational expenditures are proliferating across states. For example, in Minnesota taxpayers can deduct up to $1625 for elementary students or $2500 for secondary students for tuition, textbooks, transportation, academic summer camps, and summer school....

More than one out of every five principals leaves their school each year. In some cases, these career changes are driven by the choices of district leadership. In other cases, principals initiate the move, often demonstrating preferences to work in schools with higher achieving students from...

Researchers and policymakers often assume that teacher turnover harms student achievement, but recent evidence calls into question this assumption. Using a unique identification strategy that employs grade-level turnover and two classes of fixed-effects models, this study estimates the effects...

Test-based accountability including value-added assessments and experimental and quasi-experimental research in education rely on achievement tests to measure student skills and knowledge. Yet we know little regarding important properties of these tests, an important example being the extent of...

The success of any governmental subsidy depends on whether it increases or crowds out existing consumption. Yet to date there has been little empirical evidence, particularly in the education sector, on whether government intervention crowds out private provision. Universal preschool policies...

Despite claims that school districts need flexibility in teacher assignment to allocate teachers more equitably across schools and improve district performance, the power to involuntarily transfer teachers across schools remains hotly contested. Little research has examined involuntary transfer...