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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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Thomas S. Dee, 2007. "Teachers and the Gender Gaps in Student Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Zakharov, Andrey & Carnoy, Martin, 2021. "Does teaching to the test improve student learning?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Thomas Dee & Martin West, 2008. "The Non-Cognitive Returns to Class Size," NBER Working Papers 13994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.).

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