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Do Financial Incentives Help Low-Performing Schools Attract and Keep Academically Talented Teachers? Evidence from California

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  • Jennifer L. Steele
  • Richard J. Murnane
  • John B. Willett

Abstract

This study capitalizes on a natural experiment that occurred in California between 2000 and 2002. In those years, the state offered a competitively allocated $20,000 incentive called the Governor's Teaching Fellowship (GTF) aimed at attracting academically talented, novice teachers to low-performing schools and retaining them in those schools for at least four years. Taking advantage of data on the career histories of 27,106 individuals who pursued California teaching licenses between 1998 and 2003, we use an instrumental variables strategy to estimate the unbiased impact of the GTF on the decisions of recipients to begin working in low-performing schools within two years after licensure program enrollment. We estimate that GTF recipients would have been less likely to teach in low-performing schools than observably similar counterparts had the GTF not existed, but that acquiring a GTF increased their probability of doing so by 28 percentage points. Examining retention patterns, we find that 75 percent of both GTF recipients and non-recipients who began working in low-performing schools remained in such schools for at least four years.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer L. Steele & Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett, 2009. "Do Financial Incentives Help Low-Performing Schools Attract and Keep Academically Talented Teachers? Evidence from California," NBER Working Papers 14780, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14780
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthew A. Kraft & John P. Papay & Olivia L. Chi, 2020. "Teacher Skill Development: Evidence from Performance Ratings by Principals," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 315-347, March.
    2. Coffman, Lucas C. & Conlon, John J. & Featherstone, Clayton R. & Kessler, Judd B. & Mixon, Jessica, 2023. "Liquidity for teachers: Evidence from Teach For America and LinkedIn," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Michael Bates & Michael Dinerstein & Andrew C. Johnston & Isaac Sorkin, 2022. "Teacher Labor Market Equilibrium and Student Achievement," CESifo Working Paper Series 9551, CESifo.
    4. Balch, Ryan & Springer, Matthew G., 2015. "Performance pay, test scores, and student learning objectives," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 114-125.
    5. Yeycol Leiva & Gabriel Pino, 2020. "Analysis of the impact of school performance on income inequality in the long run: An application to Chilean municipalities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1045-1080, September.
    6. Gregory Elacqua & Diana Hincapie & Isabel Hincapie & Veronica Montalva, 2022. "Can Financial Incentives Help Disadvantaged Schools to Attract and Retain High‐Performing Teachers? Evidence from Chile," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(2), pages 603-631, March.
    7. Cowan, James & Goldhaber, Dan, 2018. "Do bonuses affect teacher staffing and student achievement in high poverty schools? Evidence from an incentive for national board certified teachers in Washington State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 138-152.
    8. Vegas, E & Ganimian, A. J., 2013. "Theory and Evidence on Teacher Policies in Developed and Developing Countries," Working Paper 104291, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    9. Kraft, Matthew A. & Brunner, Eric J. & Dougherty, Shaun M. & Schwegman, David J., 2020. "Teacher accountability reforms and the supply and quality of new teachers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    10. Greaves, Ellen & Sibieta, Luke, 2019. "Constrained optimisation? Teacher salaries, school resources and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Dai, Fengyan & Xu, Lei & Zhu, Yu, 2022. "Higher education expansion and supply of teachers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Richard K. Mansfield, 2015. "Teacher Quality and Student Inequality," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(3), pages 751-788.
    13. Swain, Walker A. & Rodriguez, Luis A. & Springer, Matthew G., 2019. "Selective retention bonuses for highly effective teachers in high poverty schools: Evidence from Tennessee," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 148-160.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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