The Impact of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data

Jonah Rockoff
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Jonah Rockoff: Harvard University

Public Economics from EconWPA

Abstract: Teacher quality is widely believed to be important for education, despite little evidence that teachers' credentials matter for student achievement. To accurately measure variation in achievement due to teachers' characteristics-both observable and unobservable-it is essential to identify teacher fixed effects. Unlike previous studies, I use panel data to estimate teacher fixed effects while controlling for fixed student characteristics and classroom specific variables. I find large and statistically significant differences among teachers: a one standard deviation increase in teacher quality raises reading and math test scores by approximately .20 and .24 standard deviations, respectively, on a nationally standardized scale. In addition, teaching experience has statistically significant positive effects on reading test scores, controlling for fixed teacher quality.

Keywords: teachers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
Date: 2003-04-10
Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on PC; pages: 40; figures: Included
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0304002

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