“Education is complex and the immediate consumer, after all, is a child or adolescent who can know only so much about how a subject should be taught. The parent, legislator and taxpayer are necessarily at a distance. Groceries, by contrast, are discrete goods purchased by adults who can easily judge each item according to taste, nutritional value and cost. Supermarkets can likewise be easily judged according to service, atmosphere and convenience.”

But Abrams suggests five business ideas that school reformers should adopt. They should

• Invest in high-quality early childhood education, because the returns are high;
• Raise teachers’ salaries, because teachers' pay is correlated with educational outcomes;
• Retain good teachers and groom administrators from within the ranks, instead of hiring outside administrators, because teacher turnover impairs student achievement;
• Don't tie teachers’ pay to their performance, because studies have shown it doesn't work;
• Instead of regular testing of all students, test small samples of students, a management concept created by W. Edwards Deming, the father of the modern Japanese auto industry. 

To read the piece, go here.

Published Tuesday, Jan 10, 2017

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speakers to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, or staff either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.