Education Finance and Policy
(Volume 4, Issue 2 - Spring 2009 & Volume 4, Issue 3 - Summer 2009)

Recent editions of Education Finance and Policy feature research by CALDER experts. In these issues researchers examine the consequences of teacher absences in public schools and the impact of a policy intervention designed to reduce absences; investigate the pattern of incentives for work versus retirement in 6 different state teacher pension systems and the efficiency and equity consequences of the defined benefit systems; review teacher professional development policies implemented in various states and the effectiveness of these policies; and examine the potential impact of NBPTS certification on teachers' career paths and teacher mobility.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses
Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools
by Eric A Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth
(Princeton University Press, 2009)

Money doesn’t always buy achievement. Increased school funding has led to additional school resources, but has it led to commensurate gains in student achievement? Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth draw on the history of school funding litigation and highlight research indicating little or no correlation between increased spending and student performance. A performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement could empower educators to make better, more cost-effective school management decisions that would lead to improved student outcomes. More info »

Creating a New Teaching Profession
Edited by Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway
(Urban Institute Press, 2009, Forthcoming)

Education is a human capital enterprise: research shows teachers are the most important schooling factor affecting student learning. They vary greatly in their effectiveness. Today, our nation’s schools are under tremendous performance pressure. While achievement gaps across student groups persist, U.S. students continue to trail behind their peers in other industrialized countries. Improving the performance of the teacher workforce is no longer just a moral imperative— it is also an economic imperative. This volume draws on research evidence provided by leading education scholars, and focuses on four critical areas where policy can make a difference in the teaching profession: recruitment and selection; examining the function of differentiated teacher roles; performance management in the classroom; and entry and exit mechanisms.

  
Alternative Routes to Teaching
Mapping the New Landscape of Teacher Education
Edited by Pam Grossman and Susanna Loeb
(Harvard Education Press, 2008)

There is wide consensus among school administrators, policy makers, parents, and scholars alike on the need to ensure an equitable distribution of high quality teachers across schools and classrooms. But what are the most effective strategies for preparing teachers? Over the past 20 years, alternative certification programs have emerged as a major pathway for teacher preparation, and have contributed to a heated debate over how best to recruit, train, and to support qualified teachers. Susanna Loeb and Pamela Grossman review research on alternative certification, focusing on the trade-offs implicit in teaching routes. More info »