Education Next

Total Student Load

Review of William Ouchi’s The Secret of TSL

Many Schools Are Still Inadequate, Now What?

Is court involvement in school spending essential to reform, or can we use education funding to drive reforms that promise better outcomes for students?

Education and Economic Growth

It’s not just going to school, but learning something while there that matters

The Confidence Men

Selling adequacy, making millions

RAND versus RAND

What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us? by Stephen P. Klein et al.

Deconstructing RAND

Improving Student Achievement: What NAEP State Test Scores Tell Us by David W. Grissmer et al.

The Seeds of Growth

The United States became the world’s economic superpower over the course of the 20th century. But can today’s education system be counted on to fertilize growth in the future?

Lost Opportunity

Increased economic growth, fueled by improvements in student performance, might have funded the nation’s entire K–12 education budget by now

High-Stakes Research

Accountability works after all

The Revolving Door

A path-breaking study of teachers in Texas reveals that working conditions matter more than salary

Pseudo-Science and a Sound Basic Education

Checked:

“The New York Adequacy Study:
Determining the Cost of Providing [...]

A Clearer Picture on Charter Schools

The effectiveness of charter schools in raising student achievement has become an intensely debated issue. When we last considered this topic, the Department of Education was pushing charter schools but dueling studies introduced uncertainty. A new study by CREDO clears up the uncertainty.

What To Do About NCLB

Three separate lines of inquiry provide evidence that existing accountability systems have led to larger gains than expected in a world without them. At the same time, accountability is a relatively new invention, and it needs to be refined and improved.

Court Mandates on School Funding Sharply Decline

Since 2005, there have been important adequacy case decisions in over a dozen states, and in none of them have the courts required further funding increases. Several courts, when deciding new adequacy cases, have either dismissed them based on separation of powers grounds or have ruled against the plaintiffs on the merits following a trial.

Why are Some Environments Better than Others for Charter Schools? Today’s Policy Question

This has been a good year for evidence on the effectiveness of charters, highlighted by a major national study from CREDO and a new study in the continuing work from New York City. Nonetheless, understanding and interpreting the scientific research within the political and media environment is made more difficult by the political context.

The Supreme Court Gets School Funding Right

One sleeper in the flurry of decisions at the end of the last U.S. Supreme Court term has to be the decision in Horne v. Flores, a long-running Arizona case about funding special programs for English Language Learners (ELL). In overturning lower court decisions calling for continued court-ordered school spending without regard to student outcomes, the Court may lead to a new era of more rational and effective court involvement in school funding policies.

Will Horne v. Flores Affect School Finance Litigation?

Video: Eric Hanushek talks with Education Next about the recent Supreme Court decision on school spending in Arizona, and considers the ruling’s impact on state school finance litigation.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses

Video: Hoover Institution senior fellows and members of Hoovers Task Force on K12 Education Terry Moe and Eric Hanushek discuss Hanushek’s new book Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses.