\doc\web\99\09\milwa.txt From: "Patricia Hausman" To: , Date sent: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 12:38:12 -0400 Subject: [h-bd] Re: Improvements in education John, Whatever the expenditure per pupil, the endpoints need to be long-term. This is a failing much research. Temporary gains are not that difficult to obtain; long- term gains have been elusive. Although I often disagree with Stephen Ceci, I recommend the following paper of his: How much does schooling influence general intelligence and its cognitive components? A reassessment of the evidence. Developmental Psychology (1991) 27: 703-722. This is a review of several hundred studies on the relationship between a) schooling and educational outcomes and b) "school quality" and outcomes. Ceci concludes that schooling itself does have significant effects on IQ. However, he notes the lack of any even moderately convincing evidence that "school quality" affects outcomes. He writes: "Most schools in developed nations, no matter how poor, may be sufficient to maintain and develop IQ and related cognitive abilities. It is only when one examines the life courses of those individuals who rarely attended school that the real influence of school attendance may be seen." This line of reasoning is similar to Sandra Scarr's concept of "good-enough parenting." Her work found that children adopted at infancy into working class families achieved cognitive ability similar to those adopted into privileged homes. From this and other observations, she concluded that about 75% of homes in the U.S. provide environments "good enough" to support normal development and allow children to reach their potential. The possibility that variation in outcomes among schools reflect primarily differences in the human capital of the children who attend them is one of the most tabooed notions in our society today. Of course, it *is* possible that $100,000 or $200,000 per pupil would make a difference, but then again recall the Mil- waukee early intervention project, in which each increase in IQ point represented an expenditure of $23,000 per child (in the 70s). And the initial enthusiastic reports of success were followed by findings of effect fade-out. This underscores the need to measure outcomes not just during special schooling but for some years after the fact. Patti