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Out-of-Field Teachers and Student Achievement

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas S. Dee

    (Swarthmore College and NBER)

  • Sarah R. Cohodes

    (The Urban Institute)

Abstract

This study examines whether subject-specific teacher certification and academic degrees are related to teacher quality. The research design exploits contemporaneous, within-student comparisons made possible by a unique feature of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Specifically, NELS:88 contains subject-specific outcomes for eighth-grade students in two subjects as well as data on their teachers for those subjects. The analysis of these data indicates that assignment to a subject-certified teacher is associated with higher test scores. However, these gains appear to be concentrated in social studies and mathematics. Furthermore, the authors also find that subject-certified teachers are not more effective at promoting the intellectual engagement of their students but are more likely to have negative opinions of a given student's performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas S. Dee & Sarah R. Cohodes, 2008. "Out-of-Field Teachers and Student Achievement," Public Finance Review, , vol. 36(1), pages 7-32, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:36:y:2008:i:1:p:7-32
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142106289330
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jepsen, Christopher, 2005. "Teacher characteristics and student achievement: evidence from teacher surveys," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 302-319, March.
    2. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin & Daniel M. O'Brien, 2005. "The Market for Teacher Quality," Discussion Papers 04-025, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    3. Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1999. "Further estimates of the economic return to schooling from a new sample of twins," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 149-157, April.
    4. Thomas S. Dee, 2004. "Teachers, Race, and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 195-210, February.
    5. Jonah E. Rockoff, 2004. "The Impact of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 247-252, May.
    6. Orley Ashenfelter & Cecilia Rouse, 1998. "Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence from a New Sample of Identical Twins," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 253-284.
    7. Ashenfelter, Orley & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Estimates of the Economic Returns to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1157-1173, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cortes, Kalena E. & Bricker, Jesse & Rohlfs, Chris, 2010. "The Role of Specific Subjects in Education Production Functions: Evidence from Morning Classes in Chicago Public High Schools," IZA Discussion Papers 5031, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Collier, Trevor C., 2013. "Teacher Qualifications And Student Achievement: A Panel Data Analysis," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 9(1-2), January.
    3. Andrey Zakharov & Martin Carnoy & Prashant Loyalka, 2013. "Which teaching practices improve student performance on high-stakes exams? Evidence from Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 13/EDU/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    4. Zakharov, Andrey & Tsheko, Gaelebale & Carnoy, Martin, 2016. "Do “better” teachers and classroom resources improve student achievement? A causal comparative approach in Kenya, South Africa, and Swaziland," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 108-124.
    5. Cortes Kalena E. & Bricker Jesse & Rohlfs Chris, 2012. "The Role of Specific Subjects in Education Production Functions: Evidence from Morning Classes in Chicago Public High Schools," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-36, June.
    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. Kelvin K. C. Seah, 2021. "Do you speak my language? The effect of sharing a teacher's native language on student achievement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(1), pages 245-273, July.
    8. Thomas Dee & Martin West, 2008. "The Non-Cognitive Returns to Class Size," NBER Working Papers 13994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jesse Bricker & Kalena E. Cortes & Chris Rohlfs, 2010. "The role of specific subjects in education production functions: evidence from morning classes in Chicago public high schools," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-33, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Tatiana Khavenson & Yulia Tyumeneva, 2012. "Teacher Characteristics and Student Achievements in TIMSS. Findings Gained from Applying the "First-Difference" Method to TIMSS-2007 Data," HSE Working papers WP BRP 06/EDU/2012, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    11. Thomas S. Dee, 2007. "Teachers and the Gender Gaps in Student Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    12. Zakharov, Andrey & Carnoy, Martin, 2021. "Does teaching to the test improve student learning?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Johan Coenen & Ilja Cornelisz & Wim Groot & Henriette Maassen van den Brink & Chris Van Klaveren, 2018. "Teacher Characteristics And Their Effects On Student Test Scores: A Systematic Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 848-877, July.

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