Education systems in third world countries are grappling with high enrolments of children in schools, amidst dwindling resources. In this article, the authors question whether learning/teaching materials influence learning outcomes in a context where policy is more concerned about enrolment than quality of service. This article is drawn from data…

Inspite of the fact that primary education forms the foundation on which education at the secondary and tertiary levels rests, the issue of poverty is undermining its roles in Nigeria. In this paper, this issue of poverty of primary education was examined, from the perspectives of its history, scope, indicators, in terms of inadequacy of resource…

Existing studies from the United States, Latin America and Asia provide scant evidence that private schools dramatically improve academic performance relative to public schools. Using data from Kenya--a poor country with weak public institutions--we find a large effect of private schooling on test scores, equivalent to one full standard deviation.…

A newly developed input/output method for comparing the efficiency of urban elementary schools is presented. The method results in the identification of efficient and inefficient schools and provides management information relative to input and output measures. (Author/IRT)

Suggests that evaluations of educational input-output studies frequently overlook some basic characteristics of the nation's schools as a whole, which, when conjoined with economic theory, permit viewing the results of these studies as neither counter intuitive nor damaging to the education profession. (Author/DN)

The author reviews five cost-effectiveness basic models including log-log correlational, general utility theory, simultaneous equations, nonlinear theoretical, and feedback. Several suggestions are made to improve the models and increase the domain of problems that can be considered by the models. In the second part of the paper, the author…

Based on pupil-specific observation data drawn from a sample of 13 fifth-grade math classrooms, this article reports efforts to develop and test an economic model of the allocation of teacher resources within classrooms. Tables provide data on teacher attention and resources. (PB)

Teacher attitudes (inputs) and classroom practices (processes) were used to predict residual student achievement scores (outputs). A combination of three approaches were used to control for student background characteristics and isolate the effects of school variables: (1) a "residual" measure of achievement; (2) an…

The effectiveness of schools and the levels of investment in schooling have been in question since the 1966 Coleman report "Equality of Educational Opportunity." Based on a theory of "knowledge-ability," this study challenges the assumption that given "inputs" will yield equivalent effects or "outputs." In…

The relationship of teachers' allocation of time to individual student achievement was studied. It was concluded that teachers prefer to increase students' average achievement rather than to decrease the variance in achievement within the classroom. (MH)

A three-year National Project for the Improvement of Televised Instruction was devised to develop a plan for using instructional television (ITV) in education. The project placed major emphasis on learning efficiency and a systems approach and used two sources of continuing information: a National Seminar on Learning and Television and a Field…

This report presents the findings and implications of some research on the relationships of some educational inputs and reading performance of disadvantaged California Title I pupils which utilized a highly simplified model of the compensatory education process. The data for the study were gathered by questionnaire administered in personal…

Measures of school achievement over a 4 year lag period in Virginia's 95 school districts were used to investigate the relationship of investment in education to student achievement since variations in spending among counties would have four years to affect student achievement levels. Because educational output is a function of selected…

Reading and mathematics achievement and student self-concept were studied in 28 IGE elementary schools (schools using the system of Individually Guided Education). The data comprised 134 variables--input variables (student characteristics, teacher background, and expenditures for instruction); process variables (teaching time and school…

Missouri requires the testing of all eighth grade students on their competence in reading and language arts, mathematics, and government and economics. This statewide assessment is referred to as the Missouri Basic Essential Skills Test (BEST) and has been given in the spring of each year since 1978. A study was undertaken to determine which…