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Smarter Teachers, Smarter Pupils? Some New Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

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  • Nadir Altinok
  • Manos Antoninis
  • Phu Nguyen-Van

Abstract

We study the effect of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement in mathematics and reading by using a dataset from six Sub-Saharan African countries. By using a difference-indifference between pupils’ and teachers’ scores in two skills, we are able to avoid potential endogeneity bias. In most estimations, we do not find a significant teacher knowledge effect in most countries. The main reason is teacher absenteeism and the need to focus on core knowledge. Indeed, more knowledgeable teachers improve student learning only if certain conditions are met. For instance, a high level of teacher absenteeism and low teacher performance in a subset of items that are also administered to students can dampen the teacher subject knowledge effect on student learning. When these conditions are met, teacher subject knowledge has a significant and positive effect on student achievement in most countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadir Altinok & Manos Antoninis & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2017. "Smarter Teachers, Smarter Pupils? Some New Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of BETA 2017-35, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2017-35
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teacher knowledge; Africa; Learning; SACMEQ; cognitive skills.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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