Do teachers colleges prepare more effective teachers? Evidence from a top school district in China

Qi Zheng, Xin Xie, Xiaoyang Ye and Yi Wei

China Economic Review, 2024, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the value of teacher education by comparing the effectiveness of traditionally trained teachers from teachers' colleges and non-traditionally trained teachers from comprehensive universities in China. We utilize the unique data of 424 traditionally and 40 non-traditionally trained teachers from a top school district in China and a cross-subject value-added model to address teacher-student sorting bias. Our results indicate that, on average, traditionally trained teachers contribute approximately 0.1 standard deviations higher value to students' high-stakes test scores over a three-year period than non-traditionally trained teachers. Behavioral analyses on the district's teacher survey suggest that while teachers from both routes are similar in time allocation and professional psychological characteristics, traditionally trained teacher report being better in applying multitudinous pedagogies and teaching strategies. We find similar results using two administrative data sources from another province. The findings of this study contribute to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of alternative routes to teaching and the importance of teacher education.

Keywords: Teachers colleges; Traditional teacher education; Teacher effectiveness; Value-added model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:87:y:2024:i:c:s1043951x24001147

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2024.102225

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