Jay Mathews from The Washington Post reviews a book that argues that GDP is directly connected to student performance.

The book, Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America’s Public Schools by Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth, describes some noteworthy research in education conducted by Hanushek.

But his data also show productivity growing at the same pace as the rising education level of our work force, and international comparisons reveal a consistent pattern that strongly reinforces the notion that rising student achievement can make us all richer.

Here is his main point (excuse the jargon): “According to the existing evidence, each one standard deviation difference on test performance is related to a 1 percent difference in annual growth rates of per capita GDP.

The authors conclude that despite the government throwing large sums of money at the problem of student achievement, they have generally failed to improve schools.

While the connection with student performance and economic growth is intuitive, it is interesting to see research that finds a significant correlation. There doesn’t appear to be evidence of causation, as it could be possible that richer nations have better student achievement. Despite this, the data is a pretty compelling reason for the need for educational reform as the nation deals with the worst economic recession in decades.