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The Effect of Teacher Characteristics on Students’ Science Achievement

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  • Pietro Sancassani

Abstract

Using data from TIMSS 2015, an international large-scale assessment of student skills, I investigate the effect of teacher characteristics on students’ science achievement. My identification strategy exploits the feature that in many education systems different science domains (physics, biology, chemistry, and earth science) are taught by different teachers. The availability of students’ test scores as well as teachers’ questionnaires for each of these domains allows me to implement a withinstudent approach which controls for unobserved student heterogeneity. I find a positive and significant effect of teacher specialization in the specific science domain on students’ results, equivalent to 1.7% of a standard deviation. Holding a Master’s degree, pedagogical preparation and teaching experience have no significant effect. Teachers’ experience has a negative impact on the extent to which students like to study a subject or find teaching engaging.

Suggested Citation

  • Pietro Sancassani, 2021. "The Effect of Teacher Characteristics on Students’ Science Achievement," ifo Working Paper Series 348, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifowps:_348
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    Cited by:

    1. Atsushi Inoue & Ryuichi Tanaka, 2023. "Do teachers’ college majors affect students’ academic achievement in the sciences? A cross-subfields analysis with student-teacher fixed effects," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 617-631, September.
    2. Sancassani, Pietro, 2023. "The effect of teacher subject-specific qualifications on student science achievement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teachers; student achievement; teacher characteristics; education production function; TIMSS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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