Teachers in Developing Countries: Improving Effectiveness and Managing Costs

摘要

The book is divided into three parts. Part I has two chapters, The first chaptersummarizes the book's main conclusions. It discusses the meanings of teacher effectiveness and presents an overview of the economics of teaching. It then analyzes the implications of alternative career patterns and policies in terms of costs and effectiveness. The second chapter summarizes international research and experience on teacher effectiveness and draws conclusions that have particular relevance for developing countries. Part II attempts to respond to the central question of the book: how do teacher incentive systems contribute to teacher effectiveness. Salary scales are a statement of policy on renumeration by which the salary of any teacher is determined in accordance with his or her qualifications. Part III attempts to answer the following question: how do organization, management, and training contribute to teacher effectiveness. Teacher education is expensive in two major ways: it requires heavy investments over relatively long periods of time, and it is directly related to the entry-level requirements for teachers. The issue, then, is how to establish optimal tradeoffs between general and specialized teacher education. How much should be invested on pre-service, in-service, and on-the-job training. Different analysts propose different, but not mutually exclusive, views on the issue.