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Are Teacher Absences Worth Worrying About in the U.S.?

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Author Info
Charles T. Clotfelter
Helen F. Ladd
Jacob L. Vigdor

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Abstract

Using detailed data from North Carolina, we examine the frequency, incidence, and consequences of teacher absences in public schools, as well as the impact of an absence disincentive policy. The incidence of teacher absences is regressive: schools in the poorest quartile averaged almost one extra sick day per teacher than schools in the highest income quartile, and schools with persistently high rates of teacher absence were much more likely to serve low-income than high-income students. In regression models incorporating teacher fixed effects, absences are associated with lower student achievement in elementary grades. Finally, we present evidence that the demand for discretionary absences is price-elastic. Our estimates suggest that a policy intervention that simultaneously raised teacher base salaries and broadened financial penalties for absences could both raise teachers' expected income and lower districts' expected costs.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13648.

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Date of creation: Nov 2007
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13648

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

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Randy A. Ehrenberg & Daniel I. Rees & Eric L. Ehrenberg, 1991. "School District Leave Policies, Teacher Absenteeism, and Student Achievement," NBER Working Papers 2874, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Steve Bradley & Colin Green & Gareth Leeves, 2004. "Worker absence and shirking: evidence from matched teacher-school data," Working Papers 000271, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Nazmul Chaudhury & Jeffrey Hammer & Michael Kremer & Karthik Muralidharan & F. Halsey Rogers, 2006. "Missing in Action: Teacher and Health Worker Absence in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 91-116, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2006. "Addressing Absence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 117-132, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Duflo, Esther & Hanna, Rema, 2005. "Monitoring Works: Getting Teachers to Come to School," CEPR Discussion Papers 5426, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Andrea Ichino & Enrico Moretti, 2006. "Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 2207, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  7. Maarten Lindeboom & Marcel Kerkhofs, 2000. "Multistate Models For Clustered Duration Data - An Application To Workplace Effects On Individual Sickness Absenteeism," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(4), pages 668-684, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Paul Glewwe & Nauman Ilias & Michael Kremer, 2003. "Teacher Incentives," NBER Working Papers 9671, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Charles Clotfelter & Elizabeth Glennie & Helen Ladd & Jacob Vigdor, 2006. "Would Higher Salaries Keep Teachers in High-Poverty Schools? Evidence from a Policy Intervention in North Carolina," NBER Working Papers 12285, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates Of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Gianna Barbieri & Piero Cipollone & Paolo Sestito, 2008. "Labour market for teachers: Demographic characteristics and allocative mechanisms," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 672, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Rogers, F. Halsey & Vegas, Emiliana, 2009. "No more cutting class ? reducing teacher absence and providing incentives for performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4847, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Stephanie Riegg Cellini & Fernando Ferreira & Jesse Rothstein, 2008. "The Value of School Facilities: Evidence from a Dynamic Regression Discontinuity Design," NBER Working Papers 14516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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