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A study of issues in the economics of education, using microeconomic theory and empirical methods to analyze K-12 education policy. Topics include: the determinants of school quality, how to find and retain effective teachers, the effects of school accountability programs on student achievement, the role of charter schools and school choice in the provision of high-quality public education, and the consequences of more widespread early childhood education. Students will learn to read and critique empirical research to understand its implications for policy, focusing on the experimental and quasi-experimental methods most commonly used by applied microeconomists.