Class-size reduction (CSR) mandates presuppose that resources provided to reduce class size will have a larger impact on student outcomes than resources that districts can spend as they see fit. I estimate the impact of Florida's statewide CSR policy by comparing the deviations from prior achievement trends in districts that were required to…

This policy brief outlines how national education accounts (NEAs) are created, and why they are a vast improvement over current financial tracking systems in the education sector. Examples from the health sector illustrate the benefits of national accounts for improving public services, and their ubiquity highlights the poor state of affairs of…

Teacher preparation programs (TPPs) are where prospective teachers gain a foundation of knowledge about pedagogy and subject matter, as well as early exposure to practical classroom experience. Although competence in teaching, as in all professions, is shaped significantly by on-the-job experiences and continuous learning, the programs that…

This paper examines the purposes and criteria of statewide program evaluations in higher education, focusing on the development of program evaluations in Illinois, and presents new statewide criteria for program approval and review. It also discusses the role of the Illinois State Board of Higher Education in approving and reviewing programs at…

This article examines how the UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), along with the development of performance indicators, fits into the production of research within a changing policy context. The historical evolution of the RAE from 1985-2001 is considered, before looking specifically at how research output (in the form of journal publications)…

In the past decade, based on a change in paradigms in university policy, performance funding on a cantonal and central state level has been introduced in Switzerland: the universities have been granted higher autonomy, combined with global budgets and contract management by the responsible authorities (cantonal authorities). At the same time, the…

Fiscal and other economic constraints facing developing nations underscore the need for careful and detailed planning for education focused on the identified purposes. Until recently educational requirements have been measured in terms of inputs. Effectiveness measurements change the basis for judging the educational system from such input or…