SYMPOSIUM ON SCHOOL QUALITY AND EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES - INTRODUCTION

The Symposium on School Quality and Educational Outcomes contains seve ral papers attempting to resolve conflicts in the literature on the ef fect of school inputs on achievement and earnings. The articles replic ate past studies, reconcile their results, and/or examine their robust ness to specification. The papers identify several key issues which ac count for major differences in findings, including whether (1) school input effects have declined secularly, (2) the analysis is conducted a t the aggregate state level or the disaggregate school district or sch ool level, and (3) family-specific effects such as those captured in s ibling studies are adequately controlled.