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The Effects of Teacher Training on Teacher Value Added

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas Harris

    (Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University)

  • Tim R. Sass

    (Department of Economics, Florida State University)

Abstract

We study the effects of various types of education and training on teacherproductivity. Previous studies on the subject have been hampered by inadequatemeasures of teacher training and difficulties addressing the non-random selectionof teachers to students and of teachers to training. We address all of theselimitations by estimating models with student, teacher, and school fixed effectsusing an extensive database from the state of Florida. Our results suggest thatteacher training generally has little influence on productivity. One exception isthat content-focused teacher professional development is positively associatedwith productivity in middle and high school math. In addition, more experiencedteachers appear more effective in teaching elementary and middle school reading.There is no evidence that either pre-service (undergraduate) training or thescholastic aptitude of teachers influences their productivity. These results callinto question previous findings based on models that do not adequately control forthe various forms of selection bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas Harris & Tim R. Sass, 2006. "The Effects of Teacher Training on Teacher Value Added," Working Papers wp_2006_03_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:fsu:wpaper:wp_2006_03_01
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    File URL: https://coss.fsu.edu/econpapers/wpaper/wp2006_03_01.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. In praise of dumbing down
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2009-04-09 14:21:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Richard Buddin & Gena Zamarro, 2008. "Teacher Quality, Teacher Licensure Tests, and Student Achievement," Working Papers 555, RAND Corporation.
    3. Lisa Barrow & Linda Cavalluzzo & Thomas Geraghty & Christine Mokher & Lauren Sartain, 2020. "The Signaling, Screening, and Human Capital Effects of National Board Certification: Evidence from Chicago and Kentucky High Schools," Working Paper Series WP-2020-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    4. Richard Buddin & Gema Zamarro, 2008. "Teacher Quality, Teacher Licensure Tests, and Student Achievement," Working Papers WR-555-IES, RAND Corporation.
    5. Buddin, Richard & Zamarro, Gema, 2009. "Teacher qualifications and student achievement in urban elementary schools," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 103-115, September.
    6. Richard Buddin & Gema Zamarro, 2009. "Teacher Effectiveness in Urban High Schools," Working Papers 693, RAND Corporation.
    7. Jonah E. Rockoff & Brian A. Jacob & Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2011. "Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 43-74, January.
    8. Buddin, Richard, 2010. "How effective are Los Angeles elementary teachers and schools?," MPRA Paper 27366, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Richard Buddin & Gema Zamarro, 2009. "Teacher Effectiveness in Urban High Schools," Working Papers WR-693-IES, RAND Corporation.
    10. Richard Buddin & Gema Zamarro, 2009. "Teacher Qualifications and Middle School Student Achievement," Working Papers WR-671-IES, RAND Corporation.
    11. Buddin, Richard, 2011. "Measuring teacher and school effectiveness at improving student achievement in Los Angeles elementary schools," MPRA Paper 31963, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Richard Buddin & Gema Zamarro, 2009. "Teacher Qualifications and Middle School Student Achievement," Working Papers 671, RAND Corporation.
    13. Backes, Ben & Goldhaber, Dan & Cade, Whitney & Sullivan, Kate & Dodson, Melissa, 2018. "Can UTeach? Assessing the relative effectiveness of STEM teachers," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 184-198.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teacher Quality; Teacher Training; Teacher Productivity; Student Achievement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

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