The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance

Eric Hanushek, Marc Piopiunik () and Simon Wiederhold ()

No 5120, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: International differences in teacher quality are commonly hypothesized to be a key determinant of the large international student performance gaps, but lack of consistent quality measures has precluded testing this. Using unique assessment data, we construct country-level measures of teacher cognitive skills. We find substantial differences in teacher cognitive skills across countries, and these are strongly related to student performance. Results are supported by fixed-effects estimation exploiting within-country between-subject variation in teacher skills. Observed country variations in teacher cognitive skills are significantly related to differences in women’s access to high-skilled occupations outside teaching and to salary premiums for teachers.

Keywords: teacher cognitive skills; student performance; international comparison; PIAAC; PISA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H40 H52 I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance (2019)
Working Paper: The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance (2014)
Working Paper: The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance (2014)
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