Stanford University’s Eric Hanushek puts the value of quality teaching in stark economic terms. Place even a slightly above-average teacher in front of a class of 20, and the resultant gain is more than $400,000 in future earnings over the earnings of students exposed to an average teacher. Replacing the bottom 5 to 8 percent of teachers with average instructors, he says, could lift the U.S. near the top of international math and science rankings.
Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, discusses the economic value of effective teachers and the assertion that their impact is sufficiently large to make significant changes in how we evaluate and reward them.
Co-sponsored by the Show-Me Institute and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.
(Kansas City, Missouri) - What is the value of a good teacher?
Stanford University's Eric Hanushek has done the math. Place even a slightly above-average teacher in front of a class of 20, and his research shows that, collectively, those students will go on to earn in excess of $400,000 more than those exposed to an average teacher. Replace the bottom 5 to 8 percent of teachers with average instructors, he says, and it could lift the U.S. near the top of international math and science rankings.
Hanushek discusses those findings—and makes the case that the economic impact of effective teachers is significant enough to warrant changes in how we evaluate and reward them—on Thursday, April 30, 2015, at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.
His presentation, The Economic Value of Teacher Quality, begins at 6:30 p.m.
Hanushek's methodology is simple and direct. Certain teachers consistently have students who score above average on standardized testing, and those students generally go on to earn more money over the course of their working lives. That pads the nation's gross domestic product.
In a working paper prepared for the National Bureau of Economic research, Hanushek estimated that each effective teacher could add $500,000 a year to the economy. The rewards for top teachers—be it pay or other benefits—should reflect that, he says.
Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, is a leader in the development of economic analysis of educational issues. He is chairman of the executive committee for the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is a former chair of the board of directors of the National Board for Education Sciences.
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he earned a Ph.D. in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the author or editor of 20 books.
The event is co-sponsored by the Kansas City Public Library, the Show-Me Institute and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.
A 6 p.m. reception precedes the event. Admission is free. RSVP at kclibrary.org or call 816.701.3407. Free parking is available in the Library District parking garage at 10th and Baltimore.