The Challenge of Sustaining Effective Teaching: Spillovers, Fade-out, and the Cost-effectiveness of Teacher Development Programs

Jacobus Cilliers, Brahm Fleisch, Janeli Kotze, Mpumi Mohohlwane and Stephen Taylor

Economics of Education Review, 2022, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: The cost-effectiveness of human capital investments depends on their sustained impacts on productivity. We test for this in a randomized evaluation of two teacher professional development programs—Coaching and Training—aimed at improving the teaching of early-grade reading in South Africa. One year after participating in the programs, teachers in both programs retained knowledge and continue using the resources provided by the programs. However, only teachers who received Coaching maintained improved teaching techniques. Moreover, the magnitude of the effects on learning for students taught by teachers one year after program participation—0.11 and 0.19 standard deviations for Training and Coaching, respectively are roughly half the size relative to the first cohort. Given conservative assumptions, we estimate that Training and Coaching are 44 and 55 percent more cost-effective, when considering gains to future cohorts. These results demonstrate that current estimates of the cost-effectiveness of teacher professional development programs are likely under-estimated. But they also suggest that more resources should be dedicated to sustaining initial gains.

Keywords: Education; human capital; development; cost-effectiveness analysis; training; coaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I21 I25 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:87:y:2022:i:c:s027277572100128x

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102215

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