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The relative effectiveness and costs of contract and regular teachers in India

Author

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  • Paul Atherton
  • Geeta Kingdon

Abstract

While use of contract teachers provides a low-cost way to increase teacher numbers, it raises the quality concern that these less trained teachers may be less effective. We estimate the causal contract-teacher effect on student achievement using school fixed effects and value-added models of the education production function, using Indian data. We allow for both homogenous and heterogeneous treatment effects, to highlight the mechanisms through which the contract teacher effect works. We also present school fixed effects teacher pay equations and predict achievement marks per Rupee spent on regular and contract teachers. We find that despite being paid just a third of the salary of regular teachers with similar observed characteristics, contract teachers produce higher student learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Atherton & Geeta Kingdon, 2010. "The relative effectiveness and costs of contract and regular teachers in India," CSAE Working Paper Series 2010-15, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2010-15
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee Crawfurd, 2017. "School Management and Public–Private Partnerships in Uganda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(5), pages 539-560.
    2. Azam, Mehtabul & Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi, 2015. "Assessing teacher quality in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 74-83.
    3. Andrews, Matt & Pritchett, Lant & Woolcock, Michael, 2017. "Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198747482.
    4. Karthik Muralidharan & Venkatesh Sundararaman, 2013. "Contract Teachers: Experimental Evidence from India," NBER Working Papers 19440, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sonja Fagernäs & Panu Pelkonen, 2012. "Preferences and skills of Indian public sector teachers," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-31, December.
    6. Asim,Salman & Chase,Robert S. & Dar,Amit & Schmillen,Achim Daniel, 2015. "Improving education outcomes in South Asia : findings from a decade of impact evaluations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7362, The World Bank.
    7. Roy Carr‐Hill & Caine Rolleston & Rebecca Schendel, 2016. "The effects of school‐based decision‐making on educational outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income contexts: a systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 1-169.
    8. Todd Pugatch, 2017. "Is teacher certification an effective tool for developing countries?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 349-349, April.
    9. Pritchett, Lant, 2014. "The risks to education systems from design mismatch and global isomorphism: Concepts, with examples from India," WIDER Working Paper Series 039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Marshall, Lydia & Moore, Rhiannon, 2022. "Does school effectiveness differentially benefit boys and girls? Evidence from Ethiopia, India and Vietnam," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Tessa Bold & Mwangi Kimenyi & Germano Mwabu & Alice Ng'ang'a & Justin Sandefur, 2013. "Scaling-up What Works: Experimental Evidence on External Validity in Kenyan Education," CSAE Working Paper Series 2013-04, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    12. Marine de Talancé, 2015. "Better Teachers, Better Results? Evidence from Rural Pakistan," Working Papers DT/2015/21, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    13. Singh, Abhijeet, 2015. "Private school effects in urban and rural India: Panel estimates at primary and secondary school ages," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 16-32.
    14. Lei, Wang & Li, Mengjie & Zhang, Siqi & Sun, Yonglei & Sylvia, Sean & Yang, Enyan & Ma, Guangrong & Zhang, Linxiu & Mo, Di & Rozelle, Scott, 2018. "Contract teachers and student achievement in rural China: evidence from class fixed effects," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 62(2), April.
    15. Sonja Fagernäs & Panu Pelkonen, 2011. "Whether to Hire Local Contract Teachers? Trade-off Between Skills and Preferences in India," SERC Discussion Papers 0083, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    16. Seiro Ito & Abu S. Shonchoy, 2020. "Seasonality, Academic Calendar and School Drop-outs in Developing Countries," Working Papers 2013, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    17. Geeta Kingdon & Mohd. Muzammil, 2013. "The School Governance Environment in Uttar Pradesh, India: Implications for Teacher Accountability and Effort," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 251-269, February.
    18. Toppo, Mary Rajnee & Manjhi, Ganesh, 2011. "Burnout among para-teachers in India," MPRA Paper 43507, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Dec 2012.
    19. Sushmita Nalini Das, 2014. "Do "Child-Friendly" Practices affect Learning? Evidence from Rural India," DoQSS Working Papers 14-03, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    20. Jenny Aker, 2013. "Scaling Up What Works: Experimental Evidence on External Validity in Kenyan Education," Working Papers 321, Center for Global Development.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Student achievement; contract teachers; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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