School Principal Race, Teacher Racial Diversity, and Student Achievement

Brendan Bartanen and Jason A. Grissom

Journal of Human Resources, 2023, vol. 58, issue 2, 666-712

Abstract: Exploiting variation from principal and teacher transitions over long administrative data panels from Missouri and Tennessee, we estimate the effects of principal race on the racial composition of a school’s teachers. Evidence from the two states is strikingly similar. Principals increase the proportion of same-race teachers in the school by 1.9–2.3 percentage points, on average. Both increased hiring and increased retention of same-race teachers explain this compositional change. Further, leveraging longitudinal student-level data from Tennessee, we find that having a same-race principal improves math achievement, but this effect largely operates through avenues other than the racial composition of the teaching staff.

JEL-codes: I2 J22 J23 J45 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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