ENDANGERING PROSPERITY: EDUCATION, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND THE FAILINGS OF MODERN AMERICAN SCHOOLING

An interview with Eric Hanushek, Stanford University

Professor Eric Hanushek Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

HUMAN CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

• What is the relationship between human capital (skills) and economic growth?

• Number of years of schooling is not a good measure of human capital as it is not the same between countries

• Measuring cognitive skills against speed of economic growth: countries with more skills have a higher innovative capacity and faster economic growth

GAINS FROM SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

Source: Hanushek, E. Pareto lecture 2013

TEACHER QUALITY MATTERS

• Teachers are the most important input into education improvement through

• Gains from improving teacher quality very large and persistent over time

• Improving the worst-performing teachers can have a disproportionate impact on overall achievement

CONCLUSIONS

• A strong link between human capital (cognitive skills) and economic growth

• Difference between effective and ineffective teachers is enormous

• Gains justify substantial structural change, and policy interventions of various forms

• But gains take a long time to become apparent

Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the American School, Eric A. Hanushek, Paul E. Peterson, Ludger Woessmann. Washington, DC: Brookings Press, 2013

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