Lecture Notes

SES # TOPICS
1-2 Introduction: Defining the educational problem
3 Human capital theory: The basic economic perspective on education
4 Early childhood education: How important? (PDF)
5 When did earnings become so dependent on education? (PDF)
6-7 Do our regression estimates overestimate the impact of education on earnings? The case of ability bias. (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
7-8 If the return to education is real, does it reflect skills learned or is it a signal? (PDF)
9-10

Why has the rate of return to education increased? (PDF 1) (PDF 2)

11 What skills are now rewarded in the workplace? (PDF)
12 Midterm (PDF)
13-14 Do smaller classes raise achievement? (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
15-16 School vouchers and parental choice (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
17-18 School accountability, standards and testing (PDF)
19-20 Teacher quality and teacher training (PDF)
21-22 Can technology complement what teachers do? (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
23 Higher education: Basic issues and structure (PDF)
24-25 Higher education policy (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
26 Wrap up