The Price We Pay

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (editors) (2007)

This volume addresses the economic consequences of the failure to adequately educate vast numbers of students.  It represents an edited version of the contributions on costs of different approaches to reducing high school dropouts and the benefits in labor markets, earnings, tax revenues, and reduced costs of public health, criminal justice, and public assistance.  Empirical estimates are provided for both benefits and costs.

Cost-effectiveness and Educational Policy

Henry M. Levin and Patrick J. McEwan (2002)

This Yearbook of the American Educational Finance Association provides methodological treatments of cost-effectiveness in education as well as specific studies using the method.

Cost-effectiveness Analysis: Methods and Applications

Henry M. Levin and Patrick J. McEwan (2001)

This is the second edition of the 1983 book on Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, providing a rationale for using the tool, the ingredients method for estimating costs, and the integration of costs with effectiveness results to obtain cost-effectiveness comparisons.  The two editions of the book have been cited almost 1,000 times.

The Cost Effectiveness of Whole School Reforms

Henry M. Levin (2002)

Whole school reforms raise a plethora of methodological challenges for comparing both their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.  This publication addresses these challenges and their consequences.

Assessing the Cost-effectiveness of Online and Blended Learning

Fiona Hollands (2012)

Cost and cost-effectiveness considerations for policymakers as they contemplate shifting delivery of education to
online or blended learning models.

Is Online Learning Cost-Effective?

Fiona Hollands (2011)

This presentation considers the available evidence regarding both costs of online learning at the K-12 level and its effectiveness in terms of improving educational outcomes.  A detailed estimate of costs is provided for School of One, a blended learning math initiative.  Cost estimates are also provided for a one-to-one iPad program and for a credit recovery program, with implications for cost-effectiveness.

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) of the City University of New York (CUNY)

Henry M. Levin and Emma Garcia (2013)

Improving Early Literacy: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Effective Reading Programs

Fiona M. Hollands, Yilin Pan, Robert Shand, Henan Cheng, Henry M. Levin, Clive R. Belfield, Michael Kieffer, A. Brooks Bowden and Barbara Hanisch-Cerda (2013)

This study is a cost-effectiveness analysis of seven early literacy programs that have all been previously identified as effective at improving reading outcomes for students in Grades K-3. We use the ingredients method to collect cost data for each program and compare the cost-effectiveness of programs serving students in the same grade level.

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Interventions that Improve High School Completion

Henry M. Levin, Clive Belfield, Fiona Hollands, A. Brooks Bowden, Henan Cheng, Robert Shand, Yilin Pan, and Barbara Hanisch-Cerda (2012)

This report demonstrates the methods of cost-effectiveness analysis as applied to several educational programs that have been shown to improve the rate of high school completion.

Comparing Costs of Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: An International Perspective

Henry M. Levin and Heather L. Schwartz (2012)

The purpose of this article is to outline the determinants of early childhood care and education costs as well as a method for measuring them, and to set out available cost data provided by countries for their early childhood care and education endeavors.

The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth

Clive R. Belfield, Henry M. Levin, and Rachel Rosen (2012)

Many of America’s youth are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market – they are not investing in their human capital or earning income. We calculate the economic burden of these ‘opportunity youth’ from the perspective of both the taxpayer and society. We also calculate the immediate burden – that incurred when a person is aged 16-24 – and the future burden – that incurred over the rest of his or her adult lifetime.

The Considerations of Costs in Improving Literacy

Henry M. Levin (2011)

The Economics of Education

Henry M. Levin (2011)

How Much Does New York City Now Spend on Children’s Services?

Clive Belfield and Emma Garcia (2011).

This report estimates the total annual public, tax-related, and philanthropic expenditures on children in New York City. It presents a “fiscal map” classifying expenditures by: age of child (early childhood, elementary, high school); source of funding (public, tax-related, philanthropic); level of government (city, state, federal); domain (prenatal care, early childhood, pediatric care, before/after/summer school, K-12 education, health, social and administration); and level of child disadvantage, as measured using poverty criteria.

Providing Comprehensive Educational Opportunity to Low-Income Students: What Are the Social and Economic Returns?

Clive Belfield, Fiona Hollands and Henry Levin (2011).

This report estimates the economic costs and benefits attributable to a single cohort of 37,000 12th grade students in New York City public schools who come from families with incomes below 185% FPL. It calculates the net fiscal contributions by education level per individual. These contributions are tax revenues, minus government expenditures on healthcare, the criminal justice system, welfare programs, and school/college. The report also calculates the social impact of different educational attainment levels including the benefits of income gains, economic spillovers, reductions in crime, and improvements in health as education level increases.

Some Economic Consequences of Improving Mathematics Performance

Henry M. Levin and Clive R. Belfield (2009)

This study uses the NLS-88 data set to explore the impact of eighth grade mathematics performance on the probability of graduation.  It compares the costs of alternatives for improving mathematics performance at eighth grade with the fiscal benefits of increased graduation rates.

Report. High School Dropouts and the Economic Losses from Juvenile Crime in California

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2009)

Policy Brief 16. High School Dropouts and the Economic Losses from Juvenile Crime in California

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2009)

The Economic Payoff to Investing in Educational Justice

Henry M. Levin (2009)

The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for All of America´s Children

Henry M. Levin, Clive Belfield, Peter Muennig, Cecilia Rouse (2007)

What is the Cost of a Preschool Program?

Henry Levin and Heather Schwartz (2007).

We delineate the root causes of differences in per-student costs of states’ preschool programs, and suggest cost tradeoffs as different features such as smaller class size or longer school days are introduced or substituted for each other. Our goal is to aid state and local governments in assessing the most effective mix of characteristics for any given budget constraint.

Investments in K-12 Education for Minnesota: What Works?

Henry M. Levin and Clive R. Belfield (2007)

Explores alternatives for improving education in Minnesota using benefit-cost criteria.  Benefits of better education include higher productivity and income, health status, and avoidance of the criminal justice system.  Benefits to the taxpayer include higher tax revenues and lower costs for public services.

Report. The Return on Investment for Improving California´s High School Graduation Rate

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2007)

Policy Brief 2. The Return on Investment for Improving California´s High School Graduation Rates

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2007)

Report. The Economic Losses from High School Dropouts in California

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2007)

Policy Brief 1. The Economic Losses from High School Dropouts in California

Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin (2007)

Costs of Implementing Adolescent Literacy Programs

Henry M. Levin, Doran Catlin, and Alex Elson (2007).

This publication applies cost analysis to three alternative programs for addressing the literacy needs of striving adolescent readers.  It highlights the dramatic differences in costs due to differences in implementation of the same “generic” intervention.

The Public Returns to Public Educational Investments in African American Males

Henry M. Levin, Clive Belfield, Peter Muennig, Cecilia Rouse (2006)

The Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Guiding Investments in Human Capital in Elementary and Secondary School

Clive Belfield (2006)

This report reviews the literature on cost–benefit analysis of elementary and secondary school investments.  A range of investments are considered: policies such as improving teacher quality, reducing class and school size; programs such as pre-school, Head Start, grade retention, and other specific interventions; and reforms, such as school choice, accountability, and whole-school reform.  With the exception of pre-school, we find that the economic evidence is extremely thin, with almost no cost–benefit ratios.  Areas that may offer potential for further inquiry are teacher productivity, special education, and the educational needs of immigrant students.

Financing Early Childhood Care and Education: An International Review

Clive Belfield (2006)

This paper provides an international review of financing systems for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) across different countries. Drawing on published academic and policy literature, the review sets out a typology of financing systems for ECCE with regard to: funding sources (who provides the money for ECCE); financing mechanisms (how money for ECCE is allocated); amounts of funding (how much money is available for each child). We apply this typology to describe ECCE provision internationally. Most countries organize some public funding for early childhood education, but the amounts vary both absolutely and relative to what parents pay, as do the financing mechanisms.

An Economic Analysis of Pre-Kindergarten

Clive R. Belfield (2005)

Recent years have seen a substantial growth in research on the economics of pre-K.  This paper reviews this research.  The review contains: a summary of what is known about the costs and benefits of pre-K; a report on newly emerging research and evidence; and a catalog of important unanswered questions. The review draws several conclusions with implications for future research. First, state level evaluations are often of little value: they “almost never attempt to address fundamental questions regarding what types of pre-kindergarten services work best and under what conditions of implementation” (Gilliam and Zigler, 2004). Second, it is not just at-risk children who might benefit from pre-K, even as the extent of the benefits to children from all socio-economic strata is not precisely known. Third, thus far, research has not directly compared pre-K with educational policies that may actually be implemented, such as increased pay for teachers or reduced class size. Finally, economic and demographic changes are likely to reinforce the need for investments in pre-K and other early childhood programs; the full extent of this remains to be determined.

Should Ohio Invest in Universal Pre-Schooling?

Clive Belfield (2005)

Using a basic economic model, this paper establishes the conditions under which universal pre-school in Ohio would yield a positive rate of return for the state. Using state-specific data and national research evidence, a strong case can be made that – under a variety of scenarios – the rate of return to universal pre-school would exceed a threshold interest rate.

Updating the Economic Impacts of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program

Milagros Nores, Steve Barnett, Lawrence Schweinhart, and Clive Belfield (2005)

This paper calculates the cost-benefit ratios for the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program using longitudinal data as the participants reached age 40. Costs were compared to benefits in terms of educational attainment, earnings, and crime reduction. Using a 3% discount rate, the Perry Preschool Program yields a benefit cost ratio of 13 to 1. Using a 7% discount rate, the program yields a benefit-cost ratio of 6 to 1. There are strong differences by gender and a substantial fraction of the total benefits come from reduced crime by male participants.

The High/Scope Perry Preschool Program: Cost-Benefit Analysis Using Data from the Age 40 Follow-Up

Clive Belfield, Milagros Nores, Steve Barnett, and Lawrence Schweinhart (2005)

This paper presents an updated cost-benefit analysis of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program, using data on individuals aged 40.  Children were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group.  Program costs are compared against treatment impacts on educational resources, earnings, criminal activity, and welfare receipt.  Net present values are calculated for participants, the general public, and society.  The treatment group obtains significantly higher earnings.  For the general public, higher tax revenues, lower criminal justice system expenditures, and lower welfare payments easily outweigh program costs; they repay $12.90 for every $1 invested.  However, program gains come mainly from reduced crime by males.

Learning in practice: Cost-effectiveness of continuing professional development in health care

Celia Brown, Clive Belfield, and S.J. Field (2002)

This paper reviews the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of continuing professional development for healthcare professionals. A systematic search for suitable economic studies found only nine studies, of varying quality and with ambiguous use of economic terms. The review indicates that the evidence base simply does not allow any empirical conclusions to be drawn about the economic value of continuing professional development. The paper calls for more cost-effectiveness studies, along with greater attention paid to ensuring that methods of evaluation and analysis are appropriate.

How Cost-Effective Are Lectures? A Review of the Experimental Literature

Celia Brown and Clive Belfield (2002)

This paper uses the extant experimental evidence on the effectiveness of lectures compared to other modes of study by college students. It supplements this evidence with estimates of the costs of each mode of study based on the descriptions of the interventions. The analysis does not find any particular mode of study to be consistently more cost-effective than any other mode

Waiting for Godot: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Education

Henry M. Levin (2001)

This article addresses the lack of use of the cost-effectiveness tool for policy and decisions in education and the reasons for this paradox. These reasons include a lack of training in the methodology among education evaluation specialists, lack of credible effectiveness measures, and lack of demand for such research by policymakers.

Educational Vouchers: Effectiveness, Choice, and Costs

Henry M. Levin (1998)

This article summarizes the empirical findings on educational vouchers with respect to their educational results, who chooses what, and the overall costs of the infrastructure required to support a voucher system.

Cost-Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction

Henry M. Levin, Gene V. Glass, Gail R. Meister (1987)

A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Nutritional Programs for Anemia Reduction

Henry M. Levin (1986)

Teacher Certification and the Economics of Information

Henry M. Levin (1980)

A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Teacher Selection

Henry M. Levin (1970)

This is the earliest cost-effectiveness article on education in the economics literature. Recruiting and retaining teachers with higher verbal scores is five to ten times as effective per dollar of teacher expenditure in raising achievement scores of students as the strategy of obtaining teachers with more experience.