Teacher Credentials and Student Achievement in High School: A Cross-Subject Analysis with Student Fixed Effects / Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd, Jacob L. Vigdor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clotfelter, Charles T.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ladd, Helen F.

Vigdor, Jacob L.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w13617.

NBER working paper series no. w13617

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Teacher Credentials and Student Achievement in High School

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2007.

Summary:

We use data on statewide end-of-course tests in North Carolina to examine the relationship between teacher credentials and student achievement at the high school level. The availability of test scores in multiple subjects for each student permits us to estimate a model with student fixed effects, which helps minimize any bias associated with the non-random distribution of teachers and students among classrooms within schools. We find compelling evidence that teacher credentials affect student achievement in systematic ways and that the magnitudes are large enough to be policy relevant. As a result, the uneven distribution of teacher credentials by race and socio-economic status of high school students -- a pattern we also document -- contributes to achievement gaps in high school.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2007.