Publications

American Teachers Unions Oppose Innovative Schools—in Africa
 Wall Street Journal. 10-Mar-17
General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Life-Cycle
(with Guido Schwerdt, Ludger Woessmann, and Lei Zhang). Journal of Human Resources, 52(1), pp. 49-88. Winter 2017
For Long Term Economic Development, Only Skills Matter
 IZA World of Labor, 343. 2017
Imperfect Performance Information and Public Sector Personnel Decisions : The Case of School Principals
(with Julie Berry Cullen, Gregory Phelan, and Steven G. Rivkin)
. NBER Working Paper No. 22881. Dec-16
Dynamic Effects of Teacher Turnover on the Quality of Instruction
(with Steven G. Rivkin and Jeffrey C. Schiman). Economics of Education Review, 55, pp. 132-148. December 2016
Skills, Mobility, and Growth
(with Ludger Woessmann). In Alexandra Brown, David Buchholz, Daniel Davis, and Arturo Gonzalez (ed.). Economic Mobility: Research & Ideas on Strengthening Families, Communities & the Economy, St. Louis, MO: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, pp. 423-449. 2016
School Resources and Student Achievement: A Review of Cross-Country Economic Research
(with Ludger Woessmann). In Monica Rosén, Kajsa Yang Hansen, and Ulrika Wolff (ed.). Cognitive Abilities and Educational Outcomes: A Festschrift in Honour of Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Springer, pp. 149-171. 2017
Will more higher education improve economic growth?
 Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 32(4), pp. 538-552. Winter 2016
Education Reform
In Scott W. Atlas, Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Eric A. Hanushek, Edward P. Lazear, Lee Ohanian, Joshua D. Rauh, and Frank A. Wolak. Economic Policy Challenges Facing California’s Next Governor, Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, pp. 19-23. Oct-18
Education and the Nation's Future
In George P. Shultz (ed.). Blueprint for America, Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, pp. 89-108. 2016
It Pays to Improve School Quality
(with Jens Ruhose and Ludger Woessmann). Education Next, 16(3) , pp. 16-24. Summer 2016
The Economic Impact of Good Schools
 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. 3-May-16
Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 5
(co-editor with Stephen J. Machin and Ludger Woessmann). Amsterdam: North Holland. 2016
Student Achievement and Every State's Economic Future
 Real Clear Education. 29-Apr-16
Linking Large-Scale Reading Assessments: Comment
 Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 14(1), pp. 27-29. 2016
Knowledge Capital, Growth, and the East Asian Miracle
(with Ludger Woessmann). Science, 351(6271), pp. 344-345. 22-Jan-16
What Matters for Achievement: Updating Coleman on the Influence of Families and Schools
 Education Next, 16(2), pp. 22-30. Spring 2016
The knowledge capital imperative
 Education for Global Development. 28-Jan-16
School human capital and teacher salary policies
 Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 1(1), pp. 23-40. 2016
Can Schools Be Saved? Hope and Despair
 The Atlantic. 30-Dec-15
Education’s Double Helix
 Past as Prologue: The National Academy of Education at 50 -- Members Reflect, Washington, DC: National Academy of Education, pp. 309-312. 2015
Achieving Universal Basic Skills
 Real Clear Education. 4-Nov-15
Time in Education: Introduction
 Economic Journal, 125, pp. F394-F396. November
Education Quality for Economic Development
 Conferencia Internatcional Educação e Desenvolvimento Escola e Sociede, Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, pp. 23-32. October 2015
Foreward [to Carl Bistany and Stephanie Gruner Buckley, Last Bell]
 Last Bell: Breaking the gridlock in education reform, London: Profile Books, pp. xi-xiv. 2015
The Preschool Debate: Translating Research into Policy
In Ingrid Gould Ellen, Edward L. Glaeser, Eric A. Hanushek, Matthew E. Kahn, and Aaron M. Renn. The Next Urban Reaissance: How Public-Policy Innovation and Evaluation Can Improve Life in America’s Cities, New York: Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, pp. 25-40. 2015
Land Use Controls, Fiscal Zoning, and the Local Provision of Education
(with Kuzey Yilmaz). Public Finance Review, 49(5), pp. 559-585. September 2015
Teach the World: Why the UN Sustainable Development Goals Should Focus on Education
(With Ludger Woessmann). Foreign Affairs. 20-Aug-15
Why Standard Measures of Human Capital are Misleading
 KDI Journal of Economic Policy, 37(2), pp. 22-39. 2015
Teach all young people universal basic skills by 2030 – it will give huge boost to GDP
(with Ludger Woessmann). The Conversation UK. 18-May-15
The Economic Impact of Educational Quality
(with Ludger Woessmann). In Pauline Dixon, Steve Humble, and Chris Counihan (ed.). Handbook of International Development and Education, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 6-19. 2015
Universal Basic Skills: What countries stand to gain
(with Ludger Woessmann). Paris: OECD Publishing, 110 pages. 2015
Universal basic skills should become the primary development goal
(with Ludger Woessmann). VoxEU. 24-May-15
The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth
(with Ludger Woessmann)., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 262 pages. 2015
Economics of Education
In Paul B. Baltes and Neil J. Smelser (ed.). International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 6, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, pp. 4200-4208. 2001
Not Enough Value to Justify More of the Same
 Room for Debate, New York Times. 26-Mar-15
An Evaluation System Linked to Retention and Reward Is Vital
 Room for Debate, New York Times, 2-Mar. Mar-15
Returns to Skills around the World: Evidence from PIAAC
(with Guido Schwerdt, Simon Wiederhold, and Ludger Woessmann). European Economic Review, 73, pp. 103-130. Jan-15
The UFT’s wasteful class-size push: Research says teacher quality trumps quantity
 New York Daily News. 14-Dec-14
Finding the Right Focus
In María de Ibarrola and D.C. Phillips (ed.). Leaders in Educational Research, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp. 93-105. 2014
How Teachers Unions Use 'Common Core' to Undermine Reform
 Wall Street Journal. 1-Jul-14
More Easily Firing Bad Teachers Helps Everyone
 Room for Debate, New York Times. 11-Jun-14
Achievement Gap
In Denis C. Phillips (ed.). Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy, Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, pp, 4-7. 2014
There Is No War On Teachers
 USA Today. 11-Jun-14
Is Location Fate? Distributional Aspects of Schooling
In Gregory K. Ingram and Daphne A. Kenyon (ed.). Education, Land, and Location, Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, pp. 25-61. 2014
U.S. Students from Educated Families Lag in International Tests
(with Paul E. Peterson and Ludger Woessmann). Education Next, 14(4), pp. 8-18. Fall 2014
Institutional Structures of the Education System and Student Achievement: A Review of Cross-country Economic Research
(with Ludger Woessmann). In Rolf Strietholt, Wilfried Bos, Jan-Eric Gustafsson, and Monica Rosen (ed.) . Educational Policy Evaluation through International Comparative Assessments, Munster, Germany: Waxman, pp. 145-175. 2014
Kansas Courts Get It Right
 Education Next. 12-Mar-14
Borrowing Constraints, College Aid, and Intergenerational Mobility
(with Charles Ka Yui Leung and Kuzey Yilmaz). Journal of Human Capital, 8(1), pp. 1-41. Spring 2014
Higher Grades, Higher GDP
 Hoover Digest, No. 1 (Winter), pp. 75-78. Winter 2014