To experiment with the possible privatisation of its primary education system, Liberia initiated the Partnership Schools of Liberia (PSL), which turned over the management of 93 public schools to eight private contractors. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) study was initiated comparing the PSL schools with matched public schools and the results…

With some exceptions, a liberal version of neoclassical economics dominated public policy in the United States from the New Deal through the 1970s; and in many other countries as well. However, beginning in 1980, there was a visible sea change that brought conservatives and public choice economists to power. Ronald Reagan was elected President of…

Paper brings together available information on the cost of instructional radio and television and develops a methodology for analyzing that information. (Author)

Several evaluations of a major national reform of secondary schools in El Salvador emphasizing the adoption of an intensive educational television system were previously undertaken. They are used here to illustrate key issues and problems in the economics of education and their implications for future research and policymaking. (BW)

This study attempts to evaluate Mexico's television-based secondary education system, Telesecundaria, by comparing the mathematics and language achievement of Telesecundaria students with that of students receiving traditional instruction. Student background and ability, community, teacher, and classroom variables are considered.…

Suggests that neoclassical economics has dominated educational planning and policy analysis for 20 years, despite ongoing economics debates generating different positions on planning issues. Considers the views of radical and institutionalist economists and implications for educational planning. Questions both the validity of the efficiency…

Building on previous evaluations of the ETV systems--both formal and informal--of the Ivory Coast, this study examines the system costs of the "Extra Scolaire" (E/S) program for rural adults. Educational television is utilized through the Ivorian primary system, and battery operated televisions have been widely distributed to schools in…

Criticizes the state of educational economics through a review of "Economics of Education: Research and Studies" (G. Psacharopoulos, ed.) and "The Economics of Education and the Education of an Economist" (M. Blaug). Charges that educational economists have ignored external challenges and devastating technical and conceptual…

Research compared Mexico's television-based Telesecundaria (TS) with its more traditional secondary school counterpart, the Ensenanza Directa (ED). The data collected indicated that the TS schools tended to be located in poorer rural communities and to have larger classes and less adequate facilities; its students were generally older and from…