A case study of Boston (Massachusetts) public schools shows how specialization and fragmentation of teaching resources reduced the individual attention most students received and limited a school's flexibility to respond to student needs. The analysis develops three measures as possible indicators of the opportunity for freeing teacher resources.…

The three articles of this special section address developments and prospects for economic analyses of education policy. Issues addressed relate resources to outcomes in education and cost benefit analysis in education. Balancing economics and educational improvement is a focus throughout. (SLD)

Techniques of cost-effectiveness analysis and their applications to educational policy are discussed. Recommendations are made to increase the capacity of evaluators, policy analysts, and decision makers to use these tools appropriately for resource allocation. (SLD)