11 04 2014 PUP Exam 3 Note Set Pre K Policy Concepts Social mobility Non cognitive skills Perry Preschool Program Social Mobility Movement of individuals through a system of social hierarchy o If you were born in a poor family what are the chances you o If you were born in a rich family what are the chances you will be poor as an adult will be rich as an adult James J Heckman Over the past 30 years America has fallen who graduate Properly measured not GED the high school graduation rate in o Strong evidence that GED s do not have equal wages as those Same smarts less developed cognitive skills o Overall high school grad rates about 75 o 65 for blacks and Hispanics the real wages of high school graduates have increases relative to those of dropouts these growing wage differentials have increased the economic incentive to graduate from high school Lessons for social policy Heckman Lesson 3 policy focused on early interventions can improve cognitive and non cognitive performance o promote schooling reduce crime foster workforce productivity and reduce teen pregnancy o much greater economic and social impact Social Mobility Gap the genesis Most predictors of who goes to college are present at age 6 schooling Changing the trajectory Perry Preschool program o 58 low income black children IQ 85 at age 3 o 2 5 hours per day 5 days a week o weekly home visit o program stopped after 2 years Random assignment Back to Social Mobility child achievement Early interventions help break he stong link between parent and o Strongest links in welfare teen parenting and crime o Children born into disadvantageous families enviroments can learn non cognitive skills Caveat we need not only quantity of Pre K but quality K 12 Education Policy K 12 Education Policy Concepts Funding public education 11 04 2014 Education A positive externality The constitution refers to public education Well educated people help the common good o Contributing citizens o Better workforce Education Policy Growing Public Interest and dissatisfaction Moving up on the policy agenda o Feds becoming involved Emerging policy issues o Access to college education o Funding K 12 education o The quality of K 12 education Achievement gap of k 12 Education in urban areas Government role in K 12 Public education Traditionally financed and run by state and local govt 1965 elementary and secondary education act ESEA federal funding for education How is K 12 education funded Funding sources Florida o Local funding property tax levy about 2 5 of school funding o State funds about half o Minor federal funds o 6 786 per student national average is about 10 000 o 46 from prop taxes o 36 from state lottery money tends to go to higher ed bright futures 18 federal govt K 12 Funding Concern Funded mostly by property taxes o Lack of buoyancy in property taxes Tax receipts do not rise with costs o Equity quality of education although tricky to measure How much should states provide Quality Issues in K 12 Education Difficult to measure Quality o Graduation rates College attendance o Standardized tests reading writing math scores o Non cognitive skills o Wrote learning rather than creativity Quality Gaps o Racial economic disability and gender gaps o Quality of schools in poor rural and urban areas Achievement Gap Differences in educational achievement between different groups What Successful Education Programs Require UNESCO Healthy children Well trained effective teachers Adequate facilities and equipment Strong curriculum Welcoming environment Clear and accurate assessment of learning Participatory governance and management Engagement with community Teacher Quality Teacher quality is lower than past o 1999 study half of students have unqualified teachers in physical sciences o 2002 study classes taught out of field o exacerbated in rural and poor areas Quality teachers hard to attract and retain o Incentives for good teaching Salary tenure o Best and brightest students don t go into teaching No Child Left Behind Expanded federal involvement Greater accountability for schools o Statewide proficiency testing like FCAT o All students proficient by 2014 Must meet benchmarks in subgroups minorities English learners and the poor o Schools graded on quality Strengthen teacher quality highly qualified Sanction schools that don t show adequate yearly progress Has NCLB Worked Did math and reading scores increase since 2002 o Many scores showed better proficiency rates Did achievement gap narrow o In some states Is this due to NCLB Challenges o Teaching to the test o Cost opportunity cost of testing Proposed Reforms Market based approaches Teacher quality approaches Reforms to no child left behind Market Based Approaches Competition increases Quality Types of schools o Private schools patriarchal secular o Charter schools Publicly funded outside school district bureaucracy no teacher unions o Public schools School choice families can choose between which school to attend School vouchers o Individual subsidies to attend private charter schools o Issues Separation of church and state Evidence is mixed Teacher Quality Approaches Merit Pay o Teacher pay based on student achievement o In scattered use mixed results o Link between teachers performance Increase teacher salaries to attract better people Teacher competency standards Race to the Top initiative 2009 Obamas innovative competition for states 4 35 billion awarded to some states for education reform requires innovation to address large failing districts fund s to link student performance to teachers pay o merit pay Common Core Standards Efforts by states to produce a uniform curriculum o Students in different states currently learn different things in o Teachers have to adopt lessons to annually changing different grades curriculum Developed around language arts and mathematics o Best practices new methods for teaching o Learning goals no curriculum but gives recommendations Compliments existing policies tests o Makes state level NCLB testing standard across states Start in 2014 2015 school year Fcat update Automatically qualifies race to the top money Tests start in Kindergarten Student Debt Student Debt 11 04 2014 Concepts Funding higher Ed Tuition trends in higher Ed Pell grant Affirmative Action Grutter v Bollinger Importance of Higher Education Individual benefits earnings o Table 10 2 2010 Mean Salaries of Males and Females over Age twenty five by Educational Attainment No high school diploma Male 25
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