Learning from Praise: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Teachers

Maria Cotofan
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Maria Cotofan: Erasmus University Rotterdam

No 19-082/V, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: Non-monetary incentives such as praise are common-place, but their effects on workers performing cognitively-complex tasks remain largely unknown. I expand the teacher incentive literature through a field experiment measuring how repeated public praise for the best teachers impacts teacher performance. Testing different mechanisms, I argue that public praise sends a comparative message, with teachers being motivated when praised and becoming discouraged when not praised. In treated schools, teachers who are unexpectedly praised perform better and teachers who are not perform worse. The positive effect of unexpected praise is persistent and reflects real student learning. The negative effect disappears over time.

Keywords: public praise; teacher incentives; field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 I21 J3 J45 J53 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190082

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