Written Summary and Analysis of Assigned Readings - Research Paper Example

Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United s The article on the journal of political economy aims at estimating the effects of school quality on the rate of return for men born between 1920 and 1949. There is a notion that school funding has not had much effect on the expected benefits to the students. His contradicts other research that has found a significant positive relationship between school quality and earnings. Therefore, the study aims at proving existence of positive effects of school quality on years of schooling and means earnings of students.

The research included a sample from the 1980 census, of people born between the years 1920 and 1949. The samples are divided into three starting with those who started schooling in the 1920. The assumption is that each person went to school for 12 years before they started working. Therefore, years of complete schooling in this analysis runs from 1932 to the year 1969 because the study runs twenty years of complete schooling. This is a correct choice of the sample because the group have finished with their schooling and many are running different jobs or employments.

The research relies heavily on existing literature and research as one source of its data. The census statistics proved very important for this research because from it the researchers established a series of unrestricted earning-schooling model from sub samples drawn from it. Such census included the 1980 census, 1960, 1950, and 1940. Other data were obtained from the US office of education, which publishes a summary of the characteristics of the public schools system in each state. From state personal income, the study obtained average personal income per capita data used to indicate family background.

In addition, statistical abstract of the US numbers 66, 75, and 85 provided data on median education of the parent’s generation.The main findings of this research were contrary to many other researches. Apparently, the research found out that there exist a positive relationship between quality of schooling and earnings. That is, school quality has an important effect on labour market performance but has no effect on standardised achievement tests. Therefore, labour market is a good yardstick of measuring the performance of education systems.

I learnt some new information that the old system in the US required students to be in school for twelve years to start working unlike today when one can start earning quite early. Additionally, I was able to compare the earlier average pays of teachers with the current rates in the market.I was surprised by the fact that in the 1940s only native Americans educational data could be obtained.Q1. What has caused the significant difference in the pay rise for teachers compared to earlier wages? Q2.

Are the teachers more educated and thus offer better quality education to students?Q3. Do you think that there need for the government to fund public schooling? Works CitedLake, Thomas. The Way it Should Be. Sports Illustrated. PDF.