Suchergebnisse

The Japanese government finally started measures to promote the realization of genomic medicine that can promote the accumulation of individual genomic information for improving medical care in 2015. However, readiness in terms of social infrastructure (including legal, administrative, ethical, and educational aspects in Japan) remains inadequate. Associations related to medical genetics have been making consistent efforts to realize genomic medicine by establishing guidelines, nurturing genetic professionals, providing support for constructing cross-disciplinary medical systems, enriching genetic education, etc., and it is important that the Japanese government supports these initiatives.

I conducted a randomized field experiment in traditional public elementary schools in Houston, Texas designed to test the potential productivity benefits of teacher specialization. The average impact of encouraging schools to specialize their teachers on student achievement is −0.11 standard deviations per year on a combined index of math and reading test scores. I argue that the results are consistent with a model in which the benefits of specialization driven by sorting teachers into a subset of subjects based on comparative advantage is outweighed by inefficient pedagogy due to having fewer interactions with each student, though other mechanisms are possible. (JEL D31, E32, J22, J24, J31)