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The distribution and mobility of effective teachers: Evidence from a large, urban school district

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  • Steele, Jennifer L.
  • Pepper, Matthew J.
  • Springer, Matthew G.
  • Lockwood, J.R.

Abstract

Using 7 years of student achievement data from a large urban school district in the south, this study examines the sorting of teachers’ value-added effectiveness estimates by student demographics and considers factors that may contribute to such sorting. We find that students in schools in the highest quartile of minority enrollments have teachers with value-added estimates that are about 0.11 of a student-level standard deviation lower than their peers in schools in the lowest minority quartile. However, neither teacher mobility patterns nor between-school differences in teacher qualifications seems responsible for this sorting. Though the highest minority schools face higher teacher turnover, they do not disproportionately lose their highest value-added teachers, nor are teachers with high value-added systematically migrating to lower-minority schools. Instead, teachers in the highest minority schools have lower value-added on average, regardless of experience. We find suggestive but inconclusive evidence that teachers’ improvement rates differ by minority-enrollment quartile.

Suggested Citation

  • Steele, Jennifer L. & Pepper, Matthew J. & Springer, Matthew G. & Lockwood, J.R., 2015. "The distribution and mobility of effective teachers: Evidence from a large, urban school district," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 86-101.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:48:y:2015:i:c:p:86-101
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.05.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sorensen, Lucy C. & Holt, Stephen B., 2021. "Sorting it Out: The Effects of Charter Expansion on Teacher and Student Composition at Traditional Public Schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Claudia Palma-Vasquez & Diego Carrasco & Mónica Tapia-Ladino, 2022. "Teacher Mobility: What Is It, How Is It Measured and What Factors Determine It? A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-22, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Tim Silva & Allison McKie & Virginia Knechtel & Philip Gleason & Libby Makowsky, "undated". "Teaching Residency Programs: A Multisite Look at a New Model to Prepare Teachers for High-Need Schools," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 58dae816db6b4d008b73ac09d, Mathematica Policy Research.
    6. Eric Isenberg & Jeffrey Max & Philip Gleason & Matthew Johnson & Jonah Deutsch & Michael Hansen, "undated". "Do Low-Income Students Have Equal Access to Effective Teachers? Evidence from 26 Districts (Final Report)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports ce9ae6b49ff34e388113f31ca, Mathematica Policy Research.
    7. Jeffrey Max & Steven Glazerman, 2014. "Do Disadvantaged Students Get Less Effective Teaching? Key Findings from Recent Institute of Education Sciences Studies (Evaluation Brief)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports a7da30900bb047038d31acd56, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Tim Silva & Allison McKie & Philip Gleason, 2015. "New Findings on the Retention of Novice Teachers from Teaching Residency Programs," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 9edf9b8aa8764abebe237a72d, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Hermann, Zoltán & Horváth, Hedvig, 2022. "Tanári eredményesség és tanár-diák összepárosítás az általános iskolákban. Empirikus mintázatok három magyarországi tankerület adatai alapján [Teacher effectiveness and teacher-student matching in ," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1377-1406.
    10. Erin Dillon & Steven Malick, "undated". "Teacher Turnover and Access to Effective Teachers in the School District of Philadelphia," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 700eafe8d79f4e6da94c86be5, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Polcyn, Jan, 2017. "Edukacja jako dobro publiczne - próba kwantyfikacji [Education as a public good – an attempt at quantification]," MPRA Paper 76606, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    12. 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

    Keywords

    Teacher quality; Teacher turnover; Teacher experience; Value-added; Student demographics; Urban schools;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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