Hanushek advocates using economic analysis to improve student performance. He has authored numerous, highly cited[5] articles on the effects of class size reduction, high-stakes accountability, teacher effectiveness, and other education related topics. In a 1971 paper he introduced the concept of evaluating teacher effectiveness on the basis of student learning gains.[6] This idea is the basis of value-added assessments of teacher quality. In his most recent book, The Knowledge Capital of Nations, Hanushek concludes that the quality of education is causally related to economic growth.
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Hanushek is a periodic contributor to the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal and also appears in court cases as a paid expert witness testifying for the state in lawsuits brought by plaintiffs attempting to equalize disparities in funding of school districts.[8]
^The Hoover Institution has been labeled a "conservative institution." See, for example, Lindsay, Leon (June 2, 1983). "Stanford's conservative think tank is under fire". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
^Eric A. Hanushek, "Teacher characteristics and gains in student achievement: Estimation using micro data." American Economic Review 60, no. 2 (May 1971): 280–88. See the history in Elizabeth Green, Building a better teacher: How teaching works (and how to teach it to everyone) (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2014).
^Reporter Kevin Carey, interviewing Hanushek in 2006 stated: "You mentioned school funding lawsuits. You've served as an expert witness in a number of those lawsuits, always working for states defending themselves against charges that their school funding systems unfairly short-change some school districts." To which Hanushek replied: "I have. I've been involved in those cases over a long period of time. I have always testified on the defense side [i.e., against funding equity]." See Kevin Carey, "Money Matters: An interview with Eric Hanushek"Archived 2013-09-08 at the Wayback Machine, EducationSector at the American Institutes For Research, April 26, 2006. See also: Adrienne Lu, "States sued over education funding", USA Today, February 18, 2014., and Joanne Wasserman, "Judge Wasn't Impressed by Expensive Experts, New York Daily News, March 9, 2001, which mentions that the State of New York State spent $1.4 million of taxpayer money on expert testimony in one such case, of which Hanushek received "$50,000 for his testimony and analysis".