Educational Observations From Economists
Index
Investing in Education Standardized Tests
Academics Versus Educators
Concepts
Everyone Should Understand
Concepts
the Majority Can Not Understand Why
College Tuition is Not Going Up Rapidly
The Path Not Taken
Thoughts On
President Obama's Educational Reform
Other
Information
Economics of Education
Education Reform
Education Improvement Library
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"HALF OF THE CHILDREN ARE BELOW AVERAGE
TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COLLEGE
AMERICA'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON HOW WE EDUCATE THE ACADEMICALLY GIFTED
ABILITIES VARY"
From
Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality
W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise
Instituted AND author of The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in America.
Editors Note: Years ago, when I read Charles
Murray's earlier book
Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life,
I stopped reading when I discovered his intention was more investment in our
best and brightest. I figured they could take care of
themselves.
Now that the
The World is Flat
must compete against many millions of the the best and
brightest from Asia, I have changed my mind.
"The cost of educational egalitarianism is
doubtless high and may be difficult to justify in terms of economic efficiency
and short-term productivity.
Some students can achieve a given level of education far more easily and
therefore at far less cost, than others.
Yet there is a danger in a democratic society in leaving some children out sync
with its institutions.
Such neglect contributes to exaggerated income concentration,
and could
conceivably be
far more costly to the sustaining of capitalism and globalization
in the long run.
The value judgments involved in making such choices reach beyond the imperatives
of the marketplace."
"Much of our skill shortage can be resolved
with education reform. But that will take years." From
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World
published in 2007 by Penguin Group, pages 406 and 407 respectively
"Can we get to a higher sustained rate of economic growth,
and a material improvement in national living standards,
merely by pumping up the resources we devote to education?
That question turns on whether there is a shortage of skilled labor in the
United States,
a shortage not being met by our colleges and universities.
Despite all the ruminations about 'skills bias' in the patterns of
technological change,
there is no such shortage.
To the contrary,
our economy is full of highly technical and skilled people.
It remains short of jobs for those people, as every college councilor
and every
coordinator of a training program knows." From
Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay
publish in 2000 by University of Chicago Press,
from page208
"The better-performing students will be treated much as chess prodigies are today" ... "The lesser-performing students will specialize in receiving motivation."
Average is Over by
Tyler Cowen p. 198 Tyler is the
Holbert C. Harris Chair of economics and professor at
George Mason University.
* "...it is those college-educated workers with functional literacy little better than the average high school graduate..."
"... who end up in these lower-level jobs."From Who's Not Working and Why? Employment, Cognitive Skills, Wages, and the Changing U.S. Labor Market.
by
economists Frederic L. Pryor of Swarthmore College
and
David L. Schaffer of the
University of Wisconsin at Eau Clair, Cambridge University Press,
1999,
page 48
Please contact us with your thoughts and suggestions.
"Education is a very lumpy investment where often there is little or no payoff from having a
little bit more."
..."There are big returns to the first years of education (the education where
one gains literacy) and
big payoffs to the last years of education (a college or graduate
degree where one distinguishes oneself from the pack) but
only small payoffs to those years
of education that move the individual from somewhat below average to somewhat above
average." From
The Future of Capitalism: How Today's Economic Forces Shape Tomorrow's World
and published in 1996 by William
Morrow and Company, Inc.
page 283
"When asked to make economic comments as if he were looking back on 1996 from 2096,
economist Paul Krugman said the following on what he called "The devaluation of higher
education."
Or consider the panic over "downsizing" that gripped America in 1996.
As
economists quickly pointed out, the rate at which Americans were losing jobs in the nineties
was not especially high by historical standards. Why, then, did downsizing suddenly become
news?
Because for the first time white-collar, college-educated workers were being fired in
large numbers,
even while skilled machinists and other blue-collar workers were in high
demand.
This should of been a clear signal that the days of the ever-rising wage premium
for
people with higher education were over,
but somehow nobody noticed." From
The Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science
by Paul
Krugman, professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton
University, and published in 1998 by W.W. Norton & Company,
page 201
"Delivering literacy--even on the high
level appropriate to a knowledge society--
will be an easier task than giving
students the capacity and the knowledge to keep on learning, and the desire to do
it."...
"All it requires is to make learners achieve. All it requires is to focus on the strengths and talents of learners so that
they excel in whatever it is they do well."
" But schools do not do it. They focus instead on a learner's
weaknesses." From
The New Realities
Clark Professor of Social Science at Claremont Graduate School, California and
considered by some
“the founding father of the science of management (LA Times)” published
in 1989
The Department of Labor reported
on page 9 of the Fall of 2000 issue of Occupational Outlook Quarterly
that the
oversupply of college graduates for 1988-1998
was
approximately 1,900,000 and for 1998-2008 it is expected to be approximately
900,000.
This means there will be almost three million college graduates from this period
not working at college graduated jobs in 2009.
This number will be even larger if:
1) the outsourcing of college
graduate jobs to India, Ireland, etc. continues to grow
2) baby boomers do not retire as expected because they have not saved enough to
retirement.
From Walter Antoniotti, editor of this site.
"When making an investment, whether it be in education, capital equipment, or the stock market,
one should consider the potential income from the investment and the risk associated with
success.
The drop in real income earned by prime age workers for many levels of education
between 1970 and 1994,
even as education attainment by these individuals was increasing
substantially,
indicates a change should be made in how individuals and society distribute
funds to be spent on education.
Education is like politics, if you really want
to know what is going on, follow the money.
Testing exists because of teacher egos, big
profits for testing companies, politicians who realize it means votes, and the inability of parents to accept the
special intelligence of their children.
Ironically the economic affect is
reversed. Teachers and parents want a better life for young people and
there actions hurt young people economically and emotionally.
For more
information visit Who Gets the Good Jobs and How Much They Pay
and
Education is Up For All, Wages are Up For Some Women
Please
contact us with your thoughts and suggestions.
For those with SAT scores of about 1200 or higher, the academic experience should predominate.
Below 1000, the social experience should prevail.
If an economic return from investing in school is relevant, at some point,
probably around an SAT score of 1000,
the person should consider training rather than college.
For more information visit
Education in a World of Multiple Intelligence
Maximizing economic success requires investing in your special intelligence.
Academics advise everyone to invest in their math and verbal intelligence irregardless of there special intelligence.
This results in a large number of high school and
college graduates trying to succeed
at something they do not do well rater than something they do well.
A program similar to that depicted in the movie The School of Rock should be initiated in all schools.
Full Story Authors Note: This is not the first study to reveal that computers do not enhance learning.
Like everything, if you really want to know what is going on, "...follow the money."
Alternative paths to college completion: Effect of attending a 2 Year School.
"Recent research indicates that college students who transfer from community colleges are significantly less likely to complete a 4-year college degree than students who begin at 4-year institutions. This paper estimates models of college completion for both types of students. Based on these results, an Oaxaca decomposition indicates that students who attend 2-year colleges are at a disadvantage due primarily to lower individual quality rather than the lower quality of 2-year colleges. This result has implications for public policies that seek to increase the role of 2-year colleges as a means to increase the number of students completing 4-year degrees."
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Education is an admirable
thing, but is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth
knowing can be taught.
"Delivering literacy--even on the high level appropriate to a knowledge society--will be an
easier task than giving students
the capacity and the knowledge to keep on learning, and the
desire to do it."... "All it requires is to make learners achieve.
All it requires is to focus on the
strengths and talents of learners so that they excel in whatever it is they do well."
..." But
schools do not do it. They focus instead on a learner's weaknesses."
From pages 236 and 237 of The New Realities (ISBN 0060916990) by Peter F. Drucker,
Clark Professor of Social Science at Claremont Graduate School, California and considered
by some
“the founding father of the science of management (LA Times)”
1Kevin J. Clancy, chairman and CEO of Copernicus, a global marketing consulting research firm
"...developed a statistical model to predict
MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System)
scores..."
at different schools based on these socioeconomic characteristics “
... percentage of families that receive aid to dependent children; have two parents; are below the poverty line;
are white; and hold a college bachelor’s degree or higher.
What we learned is that how well children perform on MCAS scores
has almost
everything to do with parental socioeconomic backgrounds
and less to do with teachers, curricula, or what children learned in the classroom.”
1 Making more sense of MCAS scores, by Kevin J. Clancy, Boston Globe, April 24, 2000, page A19
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The testing required by "no child left behind" is causing some students to
concentrate on test subjects at the expense of vocational subjects.
Just what we need! Now we will have a shortage in vocational specialists to go
along with our surplus of college graduates.
No child left behind should be changed to a
job for every child.
If this were done, data of contained in
2004-2014
Job Growth by Required Education and Occupations,
Not
All College Majors Are Created Equal, and
Many
Without A Bachelor's Degree Have High Earnings could be used to
make educational decisions.
Every college student choosing a
major should be required
to sign a document stating they have read
Recent
Earnings Data By Major.
Education should change from an answer based system to an Activity Based, Real World, Question Based Academic Curriculum.
Example: Unlike fractions,
mixed numbers, and mathematics vocabulary such as real numbers are not
relevant to real world mathematics
and should not be part of the standard mathematics curriculum.
For more information visit
A Critique of Standardized Tests andNot All College Majors Are Created Equal.
Academics are scholarly. To them, pure knowledge is of prime importance, especially in their area
of expertise.
Academics tend to be prejudice toward their area of expertise.
They feel everyone should have substantial knowledge in this area.
Academics who choose to work in an educational environment, usually begin by
teaching.
Because they have a strong belief in their subject matter,
Academics often get involved with curriculum development and academic standards.
Educators enjoy students and the classroom environment.
Seeing someone learn is important, especially if the material will help the
student enhance their economic and social well-being.
Educators believe intelligence is normally distributed. They get discouraged
when teaching
a curriculum designed by academics because said curriculum is often beyond the grasp
of academically average students.
Textbook content is controlled by academics who are influenced by
their prejudice toward the purely academic and
publishers who are concerned with profit.
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Concepts Everyone Should Understand
1.
Most physical and personal characteristics of people are normally distributed.
2. Much of behavior is learned.
3. The majority of a person's personality is determined by the time they are six
years old.
4. Personal characteristics that do not follow the law of diminishing
marginal utility are most import to understanding human behavior.
Constant or even increasing utility may exist for reading, religion, following
sports, drinking, gambling, studying, womanizing, etc.
Concepts the Majority Can Not Understand
thinking on the margin
a double negative makes a positive
unlike fractions,
decimals, and percentages are similar
debits and credits
Why College Tuition is Not Going Up Rapidly
Suppose a college needs to spend an additional 6% next
year.
It solves the problem by increasing tuition revenue by 8% and
this increase is
balanced with
an increase of 6% in cash to be
received and a 2% increase in college-sponsored
financial aid.
I call this 2% funny money because it only exists in the mind of
some fund
manager because no cash or other valuable asset will
be received.
Interestingly, academically poor students who a college doesn't
really want do not receive
funny money financial aid and must be
able to pay 100% in real money. So they pay extra to finance those
the college really wants. Top students are drawn to a school with
funny money scholarships. One result is poor students often loose
a job or a place in graduate
school to a better student whose
tuition they helped finance.
Lately, colleges have been using this nonexistent funny
money as
the college's contribution in matching programs to encourage donors
to give real money to their college.
I have seen two such requests
from college presidents in the past year.
Tuition increases over the past 20 years have been
substantially
overstated because of funny money as about 2% of the 8% year
after year adds up. One college with less than 2,000 students
increased the annual funny money budget from about
$1,000,000 to about $15,000,000 over the past 15 years.
Is the bookkeeping, paper
transaction used to create non-existent,
college-supplied financial aid
fraud, unethical or good marketing?
Nonprofit organizations are required to report the amount of funny money
(tuition not received or receivable in real money) on their tax return but very
few do.
Wealthy students going to colleges where they are in the bottom half
academically pay more,
Less Wealthy students going to schools where they are in the top quarter pay
less.
The closer you are to the bottom or top of your class, the more or less you pay.
The Follow the Money at Funny Money to see how two colleges, one using much more funny money than the other compete for students.
Franklin Pierce College has
< much higher tuition than Marietta College, but subtracting the funny money makes tuition actual paid by the students,about the same. But average tuition is higher because of the 10 years it took both colleges to build the funny money portion of tuition.
Almost all college do this.
Sometime around the turn of the century, colleges began
loaning funny money rather than giving it as a grant. This created he
possibility of it being paid back.
Bad debts often run over 50%, but whatever they get is found money as before it
was a grant which is a gift!
Maybe we humans took a turn from the path of our natural evolution. Maybe it is only now that we are coming to see this alternate route. As I see it, we living beings started out on a journey of evolving toward a more and more refined energy. Along the way, it seems to me that we turned off this path when we ate the apple from the tree of knowledge. Instead of letting our natural evolution take its course, we developed language and other symbolic abstractions and pursued this path of desire to be in control. All knowledge is for control. That is not a bad thing, it is just what it is. But, in the turning away from our natural evolution, we have lost something waiting for us, but unknowable to us.
Let me back up for a minute. As I grew up, I was always aware of observing the world around me from kind of a third person position. I struggled in school since I sensed that all this knowledge was mostly pretty useless. I still did ok, but as my counselors always said, “he does not fully apply himself”. Yes, I held back and somehow preserved my awareness. I did not identify or attach to the path of knowledge. I believe that it was this sense of separation that led me to having some very powerful experiences that let me see more fully the folly of living in knowledge. I have noticed that almost all of the writers about this kind of stuff report the same kind of similar separation in growing up. So maybe it comes built into some of us, I don’t know.
Awareness evolves and knowledge accumulates. We can not control the evolution of our awareness any more than we control how tall we grow. Knowledge holds out the hope of more and control by more and more accumulation until we get to the point of knowing so much that we get to a place of frustration, anger, fear, or other emotion because the control never comes. Meanwhile, on a parallel path is the evolving of our awareness, if you have given it some of your energy. That is why we meditate. The quieting of the knowledge filled chatter in our brain, allows some of our human energy to be used to grow our awareness. Again, to meditate to “get” more awareness is false meditation based on the knowledge path. Awareness comes on its own terms.
There is no clearer evidence for this than what I saw in my dog Phoebe. Her awareness around what I was up to often astounded me. I wrote before about the many times I tried to trick her into going to the barn to get bathed. She always knew. Her awareness was evolved to a place my knowledge could not comprehend. Castaneda, in his various books, speaks to this other reality also, but to get there you must stop the internal chatter. Quieting the knowledge mind lets the awareness mind move forward.
A couple final points. Your knowledge mind will always try to capture and control the awareness path. This defeats the purpose, and letting go of control is the hardest thing we knowledge based people can do. Secondly, it is an interesting practice to read the Bible, Zen, or any books on consciousness and see if you can read it as “not knowledge”. See if you can read the sayings of Jesus and hear it as not a set of words to live by, but a pointing to getting out of your knowledge and into your awareness.
Tom Lane 7/11/06
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I
agree with the idea of a longer school year but disagree with having a longer
school day. The
present high school system
has five fifty-minute academic classes per day for 180 days which yields
(50 minutes)(5 days)(180 days) = 45,000 minutes per year. Twelve
years of public free education was a good number for many years and now
that pre-school and kindergarten is required, elementary and high school
should be ten years. School
facilities would be used
much more efficiently. In affect, school utilization would double. School
districts with below standard facilities could close poor schools. We Should Educate for Careers. Visit Change Education for an innovative view. |
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by Walter Antoniotti, creator of the Free Internet Libraries, author of the free Quick Notes Learning System books series, and President of 21st Century Learning Products. |
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About the Author of
Interesting Thoughts Concerning Education
Please contact me with your thoughts and suggestions.