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Editor's Choice What Makes an Effective Teacher? Quasi-Experimental Evidence

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  • Victor Lavy

Abstract

I estimate in this article the effect of teaching practices on student achievements. I find that teaching based on the instilment of knowledge and comprehension (‘traditional’ teaching), and techniques that endow pupils with analytical and critical skills (‘modern’ teaching) has strong positive effect on test scores. However, a second element of modern teaching, instilment of the capacity for individual study has no effect while transparency, fairness, and feedback in teachers’ conduct with their students improve marginally academic performance. Heterogeneity in these effects suggests that it is best to target the two teaching practices differentially to students of different genders and abilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Lavy, 2016. "Editor's Choice What Makes an Effective Teacher? Quasi-Experimental Evidence," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(1), pages 88-125.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:62:y:2016:i:1:p:88-125.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifv001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2008. "Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 14607, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Nathaniel Hilger & Emmanuel Saez & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach & Danny Yagan, 2011. "How Does Your Kindergarten Classroom Affect Your Earnings? Evidence from Project Star," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1593-1660.
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    9. Steven Cantrell & Jon Fullerton & Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2008. "National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness: Evidence from a Random Assignment Experiment," NBER Working Papers 14608, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Hanushek, Eric, 1971. "Teacher Characteristics and Gains in Student Achievement: Estimation Using Micro Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 280-288, May.
    11. Hanushek, Eric A, 1986. "The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1141-1177, September.
    12. Douglas O. Staiger & Jonah E. Rockoff, 2010. "Searching for Effective Teachers with Imperfect Information," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 97-118, Summer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Galina Larina & Anastasia Kapuza, 2020. "Thinking Skills in Teaching Practices: Relationship with Students' Achievement in Mathematics," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 70-96.
    2. Buurman, Margaretha & Delfgaauw, Josse & Dur, Robert & Zoutenbier, Robin, 2020. "When do teachers respond to student feedback? Evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Hidalgo-Cabrillana, Ana & Lopez-Mayan, Cristina, 2018. "Teaching styles and achievement: Student and teacher perspectives," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 184-206.
    4. Xu, Lei & Tani, Massimiliano & Zhu, Yu, 2024. "Can the Teaching Style Reduce Inequality in the Classroom? Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 17135, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Di Tommaso, Maria Laura & Contini, Dalit & De Rosa, Dalila & Ferrara, Francesca & Piazzalunga, Daniela & Robutti, Ornella, 2024. "Tackling the gender gap in mathematics with active learning methodologies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Atsushi Inoue & Ryuichi Tanaka, 2023. "Do teachers’ college majors affect students’ academic achievement in the sciences? A cross-subfields analysis with student-teacher fixed effects," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 617-631, September.
    7. Ларина Г. С. & Капуза А. В., 2020. "Когнитивные Процессы В Преподавании: Связь С Достижениями Учащихся В Математике," Вопросы образования // Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 70-96.
    8. Lavy, Victor & Sand, Edith, 2018. "On the origins of gender gaps in human capital: Short- and long-term consequences of teachers' biases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 263-279.
    9. Hong, Junjie & Liu, Wanlin & Zhang, Qing, 2024. "Closing the digital divide: The impact of teachers’ ICT use on student achievement in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 697-713.

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