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Article
Shifting the Bell Curve: The Benefits and Costs of Raising Student Achievement
Evaluation and Program Planning (2009)
  • Stuart S Yeh, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Abstract

Benefit–cost analysis was conducted to estimate the increase in earnings, increased tax revenues, value of less crime, and reductions in welfare costs attributable to nationwide implementation of rapid assessment, a promising intervention for raising student achievement in math and reading. Results suggest that social benefits would exceed total social costs by a ratio of 28. Fiscal benefits to the federal government would exceed costs to the federal treasury by a ratio of 93. Social benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 286, and fiscal benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 5, for all but two state treasuries. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the findings are robust to a 5-fold change in the underlying parameters.

Keywords
  • Educational policy,
  • economics of education,
  • cost-benefit,
  • student achievement,
  • rapid assessment
Disciplines
Publication Date
2009
Citation Information
Stuart S Yeh. "Shifting the Bell Curve: The Benefits and Costs of Raising Student Achievement" Evaluation and Program Planning Vol. 32 Iss. 1 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stuart_yeh/10/