PUP Notes Exam 3 Pre K Policy Concepts Social mobility Non Cognitive Skills Perry Preschool Program Social Mobility 11 06 2014 o Movement of individuals through a system of social hierarchy If you are born in a poor family What are the chances you will be poor as an adult If you are born into a rich family What are the chances you will be rich as an adult High Social Mobility Low Social Mobility incomes o There is no correlation between parents income and children o There is a lot of correlation between parents and children s Rich parents kids do better in school Is lack of social mobility a problem Why o Rich parents are more likely to know how to navigate the system and get jobs James J Heckman o Over past 30 years properly measured not GED the high school graduation rate in America has fallen Strong evidence that GED s do not have equal wages to those who graduate Same smarts less non cognitive skills Overall high school graduation rates about 75 65 for blacks and Hispanics o The real wages of high school graduates have increased relatives to those of high school dropouts o These growing wages differentials have increased the economic incentive to graduate from high school Lessons for social policy Heckman i Life success depends on more than cognitive skills Cognitive intelligence IQ learned information Non Cognitive physical and mental health as well as perseverance attentiveness motivation self confidence and other socioeconomic qualities ii Cognitive and non cognitive skills develop in early childhood heavily depend on family environment Quality of family life more than family composition iii Policy focuses on early interventions can improve cognitive and non cognitive performance Promote schooling reduce crime foster workforce and reduce teenage pregnancy Much greater economic and social impact than the later interventions that are the focus of conventional public policy debate Social Mobility Gap the genesis o Most predictors of who goes to college are present at age 6 schooling only plays a minor role Changing the Trajectory o Perry Preschool Program 58 low income black children IQ 85 at age 3 2 5 hours per day 5 days a week weekly home visit program stopped after 2 years o Random assignment to treatment they go to preschool and control no preschool Lasting effect o IQ numbers fade o Non cognitive skills improved This leads them to do better on standardized tests Back to social mobility child achievement o Early interventions help break the strong link between parent Strongest links in welfare teen parenting crime Children born into disadvantaged families and environments can learn non cognitive skills o Caveat we need not only quantity of Pre K but quality Education A Positive Externality o The constitution refers to public education o Well educated people help the common good Contributing citizens Education Policy Growing Public Interest Dissatisfaction Better workforce o Moving up on the policy agenda Feds becoming involved o Emerging policy issues Access to college education Funding k 12 education Quality of k 12 education Achievement gap of k 12 Education in urban areas Government role in k 12 o public education o traditionally financed and run by the state and local government o 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act How is k 12 funded o Funding sources 1 Local property tax levy about 2 5 of school funding 2 State funds about half 3 Minor federal funds o Florida 6 786 per student 46 from property taxes 36 from state bright futures 18 federal government K 12 funding concerns o Funded mostly by property taxes Lack of buoyancy in property taxes Tax receipts do not rise with costs Equity and quality of education o How much should states provide They provide 50 now Chapter 10 Concepts 11 06 2014 Funding Public Education Achievement gap Teacher Quality No Child Left Behind NCLB Common Core Standards Quality Issues in K 12 Education o Difficult to measure quality Graduation rates College attendance Standardized tests reading math scores Non Cognitive Skills Wrote learning rather than creativity o Quality gaps Racial economic disability and gender gaps Females tend to perform better in school Quality of schools in poor rural and urban areas Achievement Gap groups o Difference in educational achievement between different What Successful Education Programs Require UNESCO o Healthy children o Well trained effective teachers most important o Adequate facilities and equipment o Strong curriculum o Welcoming environment o Clear and accurate assessment of learning o Participatory governance and management o Engagement with community Teacher Quality o Teacher quality is lower than past 1999 study half of students have unqualified teacher in physical sciences 2002 study classes taught out of field exacerbated in rural and poor areas o Quality teachers hard to attract and retain Incentives for good teaching Salary tenure Best and brightest students don t go into teaching Compare to Finland top 10 of students enter required masters programs to teach No Child Left Behind 2002 o Expanded federal involvement o Greater accountability for schools Statewide proficiency testing like FCAT All students proficient by 2014 Must meet benchmarks in subgroups minorities English learners and the poor Schools graded on quality o Strengthen teacher quality highly qualified o Sanction schools that don t show adequate yearly progress Has NCLB Worked o Did math and reading scores increase since 2002 Many states showed better proficiency rates o Did achievement gap narrow In some states o Is this due to NCLB o Challenges Teaching to the test Cost opportunity cost of testing Proposed Reforms o Market based approaches o Teacher quality approaches o Reforms to No Child Left Behind Market based approaches Competition Increases Quality o Types of schools Private schools parochial and secular Charter schools Publicly funded outside school district bureaucracy no teacher unions Public schools o School choice families can choose which public school to attend o School vouchers Individual subsidies to attend private charter schools Issues Separation of church and state Evidence is mixed Teacher Quality Approaches o Merit Pay Teacher pay based on student achievement In scattered use mixed results Link between teachers performance o Increase teacher salaries to attract better people o Teacher competency standards Race to the Top Initiative 2009 o Obama s innovative competition for states o 4 35 billion
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