Economics of Education

Catalog description

The course will introduce students to the toolkit of applied microeconomics for thinking about, developing, and analyzing education policy. Rather than focus on abstract theory, the course aims to introduce students to economic concepts and thinking via their application to current education policy debates. We will begin by examining the linkages between educational achievement and economic outcomes for individuals and the economy as whole. The course will then survey a range of systemic, organizational, and personnel reforms in education with a focus on U.S. preK-12 public schools. We will review the empirical evidence for each reform and discuss which of these reforms hold promise for improving public education. Understanding and critiquing the experimental, quasiexperimental and descriptive research methods used in the empirical literature will play a central role in the course.