Adjunct Fellow
(858) 534-3369
betts@ppic.org

Expertise
• K-12 education
   Education and earnings
   Educational standards
   Relationship between school quality and cost
• School choice
• Economics of higher education
• Economics of immigration
• Labor markets
   Economics of unions
   Effect of new technologies on workers' earnings

Experience
Bren Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California (2009-2010). Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego (2001–present). Member National Technical Review Panel for the Longitudinal Study of No Child Left Behind (2004-present). Member, National Working Commission on Choice in K–12 Education, Brookings Institution (2001–2004). Member, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Committee on Improving Measures of Access to Equal Eduational Opportunity (2002). Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego (1997–present). Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego (1997–2001). Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego (1990–1997).

Education
Ph.D. (1990), economics, Queen’s University. M.Phil. (1986), economics, University of Oxford.

PPIC Publications
Lessons in Reading Reform: Finding What Works (co-authored with Andrew C. Zau, and Cory Koedel). Public Policy Institute of California, 2010.

Predicting Success, Preventing Failure: An Investigation of the California High School Exit Exam (co-authored with Andrew C. Zau). Public Policy Institute of California, 2008.

Does School Choice Work? Effects on Student Integration and Achievement (co-authored with Lorien A. Rice, Andrew C. Zau, Y. Emily Tang, and Cory R. Koedel). Public Policy Institute of California, 2006.

From Blueprint to Reality: San Diego's Education Reforms (co-authored with Andrew C. Zau and Kevin King). Public Policy Institute of California, 2005.

Determinants of Student Achievement: New Evidence from San Diego (co-authored with Andrew C. Zau and Lorien A. Rice). Public Policy Institute of California, 2003.

“An Assessment of Resources and Student Achievement” (co-authored with Anne Danenberg) in Jon Sonstelie and Peter Richardson, eds., School Finance and California’s Master Plan for Education. Public Policy Institute of California, 2001, pp. 47–79.

Math Matters: The Links Between High School Curriculum, College Graduation, and Earnings (co-authored with Heather Rose). Public Policy Institute of California, 2001.

The Changing Role of Education in the California Labor Market Public Policy Institute of California, 2000.

Equal Resources, Equal Outcomes? The Distribution of School Resources and Student Achievement in California (co-authored with Kim S. Rueben and Anne Danenberg). Public Policy Institute of California, 2000.

Have Inflows of Immigrants Diminished Natives' Educational Attainment? A Review (based on testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims). Public Policy Institute of California, Occasional Paper, 1999.