<p> There have been widespread reports of an impending teacher shortage crisis in the U.S. for more than 30 years. In the U.S., there are claims of a widespread national shortage while research indicates teacher shortages are specific to certain subjects and schools. Part of the reason for the conflicting accounts is how shortage is identified and what information is used to assess it. In this study, I test whether a uniform teacher shortage exists across the state of Arkansas. I hypothesize that, rather than a universal shortage, teacher shortages are more likely to occur in certain regions and subjects. I examine the characteristics of districts with the most favorable teaching supply and those with the greatest teaching need using descriptive and multivariate analysis of data collected from district surveys along with administrative data. In this study, &ldquo;supply&rdquo; is defined as the ratio of applications to vacancies and &ldquo;need&rdquo; is defined as the ratio of vacancies to full-time equivalent (FTE) certified classroom teachers. This is the third study to use applicants to identify teacher supply, and the first to assess teacher need or shortages in this way. Results indicate teacher supply and need are unequally distributed across the state; there is no uniform teacher shortage statewide. Regarding teacher supply, I find district size, region, and urbanicity appear to drive supply. Teacher supply is most favorable for large districts with student enrollments greater than 3,500, districts in the Northwest, and suburban and city districts. Regarding teacher need, I find urbanicity and region contribute most to need and the need appears greatest for districts in cities, and districts in the Central and Southeast regions. Teacher need does not appear to be significantly influenced by district educational success, teacher salary, or district growth. Looking at the relationship between teacher supply and need, I find three clear relationships. In the Central and Southeast regions, there is lower teacher supply and greater teacher need. In urban districts, there is both greater teacher supply and need. In higher poverty districts, there is significantly less teacher supply and more teacher need.</p><p>

<p> This study is designed to answer one main research question: How could tertiary education quality be redefined and measured through the education production function model in developing countries. The study will use Indonesia as the target country to carry out research activities. Quality of tertiary education has been one of the most frequently discussed topics in relevant fields in academia and human development. As enrollment continuously increases and education systems expand in many developing countries, quality becomes their biggest concern. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide stakeholders a different and more practical approach to reevaluate tertiary education quality through quantifiable variables and to measure quality through educational input, equity and equality, labor market relevance, and system assurance factors. </p><p> Human capital theory serves as the guiding theoretical framework for this dissertation. The education production function model is the foundation for quality redefinition. Within the four quantifiable variables, benefit incidence analysis is used to measure equity and equality, economic rate of return is used to measure labor market relevance of the tertiary education system, and returns to investment is used to evaluate how education outputs yield from inputs. The study is designed to have an umbrella structure, with tertiary education quality being at the top of the skeleton and educational input, equity and equality, labor market relevance, and system assurance being the four supporting pillars.</p><p> With the redefinition of tertiary education quality, four main research questions will be answered respectively. Educational input in Indonesia has been improving in the past decade; however, it is still behind compared to peer ASEAN countries and countries with similar economic profiles. Indonesia's tertiary education access inequality is mainly caused by socioeconomic differences. The labor market absorbs a majority of tertiary graduates and yields much higher returns at the tertiary level, and it has been responding very positively toward the continuously expanding graduating class. The quality assurance system suffers from shortstaffing, low financial support, low capacity, and weak government support. At its current accrediting pace, Indonesia's tertiary education institutions will not be able to improve as fast as they are willing to.</p>