The screening theory in education born in 1970s held the view that education is the reflection of the natural abilities of human beings，which is contrary to the human capital theory.The latter believed that education can improve one’s ability.This paper made a brief review of the education screening theory and the development of empirical literature in the beginning，then concentrate on the new development of screening theory in education after 1990s.The advances were discussed in four aspects: the dynamic model considering employers' learning；the screening model considering the production function of education；the screening model considering labor market segmentation and the empirical literature of experiments and quasi-natural experiments.