Teachers Declining?

Virginia Postrel has a great article in the NYTimes, Economic Scene: Getting the Most Out of the Nation's Teachers

She reviews research into the following suggestion:

PUBLIC-SCHOOL teachers just aren't as smart as they used to be. After all, women have more job opportunities. Bright women who once would have taught school today become doctors and lawyers. The gain for individual women is a loss for education.

A theory I had not considered.

Or so many people believe. The story is plausible, but is it true? As a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, the economist Sean P. Corcoran wondered just that. "The more I started to think about it, the more I started to think that it wasn't really a given that teacher quality has fallen over time," he said in an interview.

It is interesting to follow the research, the assumptions and the stats -- as well as the findings. I would encourage a read (requires registration with the Times but it is free).

Okay, I'll give away the ending: It's (mirabile dictu!) the unions' fault! Seriously, compression of pay is seen to chase the elite out of the profession more than a low mean pay level.

Posted by jk at March 26, 2004 04:56 PM