Member Since 2009


Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He has been a leader in the development of economic analysis of educational issues. His research spans such diverse areas as the impacts of teacher quality, high stakes accountability, and class size reduction on achievement and the role of cognitive skills in international growth and development. His pioneering analysis measuring teacher quality through student achievement forms the basis for current research into the value-added of teachers and schools. His newest book, Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the American School (2013), describes the economic implications of continued low performance of our school. A previous book, Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools (2009), describes how improved school finance policies can be used to meet our achievement goals. Prior books include Courting Failure, the Handbook on the Economics of Education, The Economics of Schooling and School Quality Improving America’s Schools, Making Schools Work, Educational Performance of the Poor, Education and Race, Modern Political Economy, Improving Information for Social Policy Decisions, and Statistical Methods for Social Scientists, along with numerous widely-cited articles in professional journals. He previously held academic appointments at the University of Rochester, Yale University, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Government service includes being chair of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences, Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Senior Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education, the Society of Labor Economists and the American Education Research Association. He was awarded the Fordham Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in 2004. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and completed his Ph.D. in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Published Articles & Media

Costs of Past and Future Learning Losses

For the United States, the already accrued learning losses are expected to amount to $14.2 trillion, and would grow if schools are unable to restart quickly.

Focus on Teaching, Not Just Masks and Hand-Sanitizer

Make schools better than they were by relying more on the best teachers

Professionalizing Teaching and Winning the Salary Wars

‘Grand bargain’ would feature higher pay and increased accountability.

The Achievement Gap Fails to Close

Half century of testing shows persistent divide between haves and have-nots

Do Smarter Teachers Make Smarter Students?

International evidence on teacher cognitive skills and student performance

What Do Test Scores Really Mean for the Economy?

Test scores today say a lot about what our labor force will look like over the coming decades.

Apprenticeship Programs in a Changing Economic World

In a knowledge-based economy, early employment gains with vocational training may lead to later problems when specific skills become obsolete and workers lack the ability to adjust to a changed economic environment.

Emulating Germany’s Apprenticeship System Won’t Make America Great Again

Trump’s apprenticeship expansion will not substitute for our failing K-12 schooling system.

American Teachers Unions Oppose Innovative Schools—in Africa

Bridge Academies show promising results in Kenya and Uganda, but unions see them only as a threat.

Student Achievement and Every State’s Economic Future

Vast economic gains are likely to accrue to any state that can improve the quality of its schools.

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