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The "Pupil" Factory: Specialization and the Production of Human Capital in Schools

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  • Roland G. Fryer Jr.

Abstract

I conducted a randomized field experiment in traditional public elementary schools in Houston, Texas designed to test the potential productivity benefits of teacher specialization. The average impact of encouraging schools to specialize their teachers on student achievement is −0.11 standard deviations per year on a combined index of math and reading test scores. I argue that the results are consistent with a model in which the benefits of specialization driven by sorting teachers into a subset of subjects based on comparative advantage is outweighed by inefficient pedagogy due to having fewer interactions with each student, though other mechanisms are possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2018. "The "Pupil" Factory: Specialization and the Production of Human Capital in Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(3), pages 616-656, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:108:y:2018:i:3:p:616-56
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20161495
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yuehao Bai & Meng Hsuan Hsieh & Jizhou Liu & Max Tabord-Meehan, 2022. "Revisiting the Analysis of Matched-Pair and Stratified Experiments in the Presence of Attrition," Papers 2209.11840, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    2. Liang Jiang & Xiaobin Liu & Peter C. B. Phillips & Yichong Zhang, 2024. "Bootstrap Inference for Quantile Treatment Effects in Randomized Experiments with Matched Pairs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(2), pages 542-556, March.
    3. Hemelt, Steven W. & Lenard, Matthew A., 2020. "Math acceleration in elementary school: Access and effects on student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Sancassani, Pietro, 2023. "The effect of teacher subject-specific qualifications on student science achievement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Elacqua, Gregory & Marotta, Luana, 2020. "Is working one job better than many? Assessing the impact of multiple school jobs on teacher performance in Rio de Janeiro," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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