Skills, Job Tasks, and Productivity in Teaching: Evidence from a Randomized Trial of Instruction Practices

Eric S. Taylor

Journal of Labor Economics, 2018, vol. 36, issue 3, 711 - 742

Abstract: I study how teachers' assigned job tasks--the practices they are asked to use in the classroom--affect the returns to math skills in teacher productivity. The results demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between workers' skills and job tasks. I examine a randomized trial of different approaches to teaching math, each codified in a set of day-to-day tasks. Teachers were tested to measure their math skills. Teacher productivity--measured by student test scores--is increasing in math skills when teachers use conventional "direct instruction": explaining and modeling rules and procedures. The relationship is weaker, perhaps negative, for newer "student-led" methods.

Date: 2018
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