Reforming K-12 Education

Lessons From The Hoover Policy Boot Camp

Contributing Scholar: Caroline Hoxby

Education Policy: What Actually Improves Outcomes

Economic evidence offers new ways to think about some of education policy’s most persistent problems, from how teachers are paid to how students finance college and how universities identify academic talent.

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Q&A: The Real Trade-Offs in Education Policy

Comment

In this Q&A section, Hoxby considers how education reforms translate from economic theory into practice. The discussion ranges from measuring teacher value added and restructuring the school calendar to student-loan underwriting, community colleges, Teach for America, teachers’ unions, and the role of states as laboratories for reform. Across these issues, better data and stronger incentives can inform policy, but implementation ultimately depends on institutions and political will.

Check out more on the topic:

Read "Program Report: Economics of Education" by Caroline Hoxby here.
Watch "Tom Siebel on Education, Reinvention, and the AI Revolution" here.
Read "What D.C. is proving about teacher salaries" here.

Learn more about Caroline M. Hoxby here.

Recorded on August 14, 2025.

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The opinions expressed in this video are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.