Information, Incentives, and Education Policy
Published on 14. May 2018
Book
Hardback
210 pages
978-0-674-05090-7 (ISBN)
Description
How do we ensure that waste and inefficiency do not undermine the mission of publicly funded schools? Derek Neal writes that economists must analyze education policy in the same way they analyze other procurement problems. Insights from research on incentives and contracts in the private sector point to new approaches that could induce publicly funded educators to provide excellent education, even though taxpayers and parents cannot monitor what happens in the classroom.
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy introduces readers to what economists know-and do not know-about the logjams created by misinformation and disincentives in education. Examining a range of policy agendas, from assessment-based accountability and centralized school assignments to charter schools and voucher systems, Neal demonstrates where these programs have been successful, where they have failed, and why. The details clearly matter: there is no quick-and-easy fix for education policy. By combining elements from various approaches, economists can help policy makers design optimal reforms.
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy is organized to show readers how standard tools from economics research on information and incentives speak directly to some of the most crucial issues in education today. In addition to providing an overview of the pluses and minuses of particular programs, each chapter includes a series of exercises that allow students of economics to work through the mathematics for themselves or with an instructor's assistance. For those who wish to master the models and tools that economists of education should use in their work, there is no better resource available.
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy introduces readers to what economists know-and do not know-about the logjams created by misinformation and disincentives in education. Examining a range of policy agendas, from assessment-based accountability and centralized school assignments to charter schools and voucher systems, Neal demonstrates where these programs have been successful, where they have failed, and why. The details clearly matter: there is no quick-and-easy fix for education policy. By combining elements from various approaches, economists can help policy makers design optimal reforms.
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy is organized to show readers how standard tools from economics research on information and incentives speak directly to some of the most crucial issues in education today. In addition to providing an overview of the pluses and minuses of particular programs, each chapter includes a series of exercises that allow students of economics to work through the mathematics for themselves or with an instructor's assistance. For those who wish to master the models and tools that economists of education should use in their work, there is no better resource available.
Reviews / Votes
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy provides an interesting and original overview of some of the most important ideas from economics concerning the design and performance of education systems. Neal's main contribution is to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about how to best assess the performance of teachers and schools, how to attract, assess, and motivate good educators, and how to design and assess school choice within public school systems as well as charter schools and voucher programs. -- Joseph G. Altonji, Yale University Derek Neal's wisdom in returning to first principles in this book generates a unique perspective that ties together economic theory and evidence in a way that will help advance the scientific foundation for education policy and move it in new directions. -- Parag Pathak, Massachusetts Institute of Technology In this book, Derek Neal lays out an economics framework for constructing and evaluating education policy. I recommend this book to those teaching graduate courses and advanced undergraduate courses. Even established researchers have much to gain from this book, which reminds us to keep economics front and center in the study of the economics of education. -- Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Northwestern University Neal has his economist lenses firmly in place as he considers issues in education that range from the fundamental reasons for government investment in schools to the role that parental choice can and should play in determining where kids go to school. He succeeds in showing that the economic perspective offers plenty of instructive insights about American education...A valuable book from which readers stand to learn a lot. -- Michael McPherson * Education Next * Most education researchers will find, as I have, that they can learn a great deal from the book. -- Dennis Epple * Journal of Economic Literature *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
2 line illustrations, 3 graphs, 7 tables
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-674-05090-7 (9780674050907)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Derek A. Neal
Information, Incentives, and Education Policy
E-Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Harvard University Press
€109.99
Available for download
Person
Derek A. Neal is Professor in Economics and the Committee on Education and the College at the University of Chicago.