American Education Policy
What Works
Cumulative expenditure per student between 6 and 15 years
(In equivalent US dollars using purchasing power parities)
Greece
Korea
Ireland
Spain
Portugal
Germany
Finland
Netherlands
Australia
Canada
Japan
Sweden
France
Belgium
Iceland
Denmark /
Norway
Italy
Austria
Switzerland
United States
0 20 000 40 000 60 000 80 000
Average all PISA 2003 tests
Finland
Korea
Japan
Canada
Australia
Netherlands
Belgium
Switzerland
Sweden
France
Ireland
Germany
Iceland
Denmark /
Austria
Norway
United States
Spain
Italy
Portugal
Greece
400 440 480 520 560
The Coleman Report
James S. Coleman, et. al., “Equality of
Educational Opportunity”, 1966
surveyed 600,000 students, 60,000
teachers, 4,000 schools
study required by 1964 Civil Rights Act,
purpose: to measure the lack of equal
educational opportunity in the U. S.
Findings:
schools serving black pupils not
physically inferior to schools serving
white pupils.
money spent, class size, laboratories,
guidance counseling, teacher salaries,
teacher qualification had no effect
on academic achievement.
Findings..............
Students with parents with high socio-
economic status (SES) had higher
scholastic achievement.
Students who went to school with
students whose parents had high SES
had higher scholastic achievement.
Thomas F. Pettigrew
reanalyzed Coleman’s data:
Black students attending mostly white
schools averaged two grade levels
higher achievement than black pupils in
segregated schools.
White students’ in integrated schools
no worse than white students in
segregated schools.
Policy Implications:
Stop worrying about money?
Family background: compensate with:
HEAD START.
Peer Group Influences:
SCHOOL BUSING
David Armour:
“The Evidence on Busing,” 1972
study of the effects of a Boston School
Busing program
Findings:
Black students bused to white schools
did not improve their performance
relative to those who were not bused.
Bused students were more likely to go
on to better colleges
other studies generally support these
findings.
Coleman Report II
“Trends in School Desegregation”
Private schools more integrated than
public schools (sort of)
School Busing causes “White Flight”
(not a very good study)
What about HEAD START?
1968 Ohio-Westinghouse Study
No long-term cognitive gains for Head
Start pupils compared to similar non-
Head Start pupils.
subsequent studies equally divided.
Perry Pre-School Program
(controlled experiment)
66 students in long-term high quality program.
no long-term improvement in cognitive scores.
BUT..
more likely to be employed, go to college
20% fewer drop outs,
less crime
fewer special education assignments
Other studies:
Compensatory education program show no
effect
Worker training programs show no effect.
Whole Language learning (vs. phonics)
Bilingual Education
So, What Does Work?
Coleman Report III
“High School Achievement,” 1982
Compares students in public high
schools with students in private
(Catholic) high schools.
Measures changes in Reading, Science
and Math during high school.
Comparison based on students with
similar family SES
Findings
Private school students do better
BECAUSE:
more academic course work
more homework
better attendance
stricter discipline
Public Schools can do the same thing
Other studies:
Project STAR (1990) – small class size in
early grades has long term positive effect.
(controlled experiment)
Vouchers: Harvard study (2000) finds 9%
gain for black students after two years on
school vouchers (experiment in New York,
Washington and Dayton).
Other Possibilities
Single-Sex Education
Longer School Days \ School Year
Standardized Testing
Ending Social Promotion
Merit Pay
Home Schooling
Parenting skills
Liberal Programs
Bilingual Education Social promotion
Affirmative Action Self esteem
Multicultural Student rights
Education
Critical thinking
School busing
(sort of)
Whole language
learning New math
Teacher salaries Sex education
Finance equity
Conservative programs
Higher standards Phonics
Local control Back to basics
School Vouchers Merit pay for
teachers
School Prayer
Old math
Discipline Abstinence
Home schooling education
Higher teacher Standardized test
standards Local standards
Neither Liberal nor Conservative
Longer school day
Longer school year
Same sex schools (con?)
Smaller class size (lib?)
Smaller schools
School uniforms (con?)