IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13868.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Mentoring Reduce Turnover and Improve Skills of New Employees? Evidence from Teachers in New York City

Author

Listed:
  • Jonah E. Rockoff

Abstract

Mentoring has become an extremely popular policy for improving the retention and performance of new teachers, but we know little about its effects on teacher and student outcomes. I study the impact of mentoring in New York City, which adopted a nationally recognized mentoring program in 2004. I use detailed program data to examine the relationship between teacher and student outcomes and measures of mentoring quality, such as hours of mentoring received and the characteristics of mentors. Although assignment of teachers to mentors was non-random, I use instrumental variables and school fixed effects to address potential sources of bias. I find strong relationships between measures of mentoring quality and teachers' claims regarding the impact of mentors on their success in the classroom, but weaker evidence of effects on teacher absences, retention, and student achievement. The most consistent finding is that retention within a particular school is higher when a mentor has previous experience working in that school, suggesting that an important part of mentoring may be the provision of school specific knowledge. I also find evidence that student achievement in both reading and math were higher among teachers that received more hours of mentoring, supporting the notion that time spent working with a mentor does improve teaching skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonah E. Rockoff, 2008. "Does Mentoring Reduce Turnover and Improve Skills of New Employees? Evidence from Teachers in New York City," NBER Working Papers 13868, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13868
    Note: ED LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w13868.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clotfelter, Charles & Glennie, Elizabeth & Ladd, Helen & Vigdor, Jacob, 2008. "Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1352-1370, June.
    2. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    3. Douglas Harris & Tim R. Sass, 2006. "The Effects of Teacher Training on Teacher Value Added," Working Papers wp_2006_03_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
    4. Figlio, David N. & Kenny, Lawrence W., 2007. "Individual teacher incentives and student performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 901-914, June.
    5. Todd R. Stinebrickner, 2002. "An Analysis of Occupational Change and Departure from the Labor Force: Evidence of the Reasons that Teachers Leave," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(1), pages 192-216.
    6. Topel, Robert H, 1991. "Specific Capital, Mobility, and Wages: Wages Rise with Job Seniority," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 145-176, February.
    7. Thomas S. Dee, 2004. "Teachers, Race, and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 195-210, February.
    8. Richard J. Murnane, 1981. "Teacher Mobility Revisited," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 16(1), pages 3-19.
    9. Eric A. Hanushek & EJohn F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 2004. "Why Public Schools Lose Teachers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    10. Stinebrickner, Todd R, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Teacher Labor Supply," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 196-230, January.
    11. Stinebrickner, Todd R., 1998. "An Empirical Investigation of Teacher Attrition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 127-136, April.
    12. Thomas S. Dee, 2005. "A Teacher Like Me: Does Race, Ethnicity, or Gender Matter?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 158-165, May.
    13. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    14. Jonah E. Rockoff, 2004. "The Impact of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 247-252, May.
    15. Victor Lavy, 2002. "Evaluating the Effect of Teachers' Group Performance Incentives on Pupil Achievement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(6), pages 1286-1317, December.
    16. Timothy G. Conley & Christopher R. Taber, 2011. "Inference with "Difference in Differences" with a Small Number of Policy Changes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 113-125, February.
    17. Steven G. Rivkin & Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain, 2005. "Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(2), pages 417-458, March.
    18. Charles T. Clotfelter & Helen F. Ladd & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2007. "How and Why do Teacher Credentials Matter for Student Achievement?," NBER Working Papers 12828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Daniel Aaronson & Lisa Barrow & William Sander, 2007. "Teachers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High Schools," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 95-135.
    20. Brown, James N, 1989. "Why Do Wages Increase with Tenure? On-the-Job Training and Life-Cycle Wage Growth Observed within Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 971-991, December.
    21. Stephen G. Donald & Kevin Lang, 2007. "Inference with Difference-in-Differences and Other Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(2), pages 221-233, May.
    22. Kane, Thomas J. & Rockoff, Jonah E. & Staiger, Douglas O., 2008. "What does certification tell us about teacher effectiveness? Evidence from New York City," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 615-631, December.
    23. Dolton, Peter J & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 1995. "Leaving Teaching in the UK: A Duration Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(429), pages 431-444, March.
    24. Peter Dolton & Wilbert van der Klaauw, 1999. "The Turnover of Teachers: A Competing Risks Explanation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 543-550, August.
    25. Scafidi Benjamin & Sjoquist David L. & Stinebrickner Todd R., 2006. "Do Teachers Really Leave for Higher Paying Jobs in Alternative Occupations?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-44, December.
    26. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    27. Brewer, Dominic J, 1996. "Career Paths and Quit Decisions: Evidence from Teaching," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 313-339, April.
    28. Murnane, Richard J & Olsen, Randall J, 1989. "The Effects of Salaries and Opportunity Costs on Duration in Teaching: Evidence from Michigan," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 347-352, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zenobia NICULITA, 2015. "Teachers' work style development as means of preventing their high staff turnover rates," Romanian Journal of Economics, Institute of National Economy, vol. 41(2(50)), pages 121-130, december.
    2. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2011. "Injecting Successful Charter School Strategies into Traditional Public Schools: A Field Experiment in Houston," NBER Working Papers 17494, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 16256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jonah E. Rockoff & Brian A. Jacob & Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2011. "Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 43-74, January.
    5. Briole, Simon & Maurin, Eric, 2019. "Does Evaluating Teachers Make a Difference?," IZA Discussion Papers 12307, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. John P. Papay & Eric S. Taylor & John H. Tyler & Mary Laski, 2016. "Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data," NBER Working Papers 21986, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. María Figueroa & Sandra García & Darío Malonado & Catherine Rodríguez & Ana María Saavedra & Germán Vargas, 2018. "La profesión docente en Colombia: normatividad, formación, selección y evaluación," Documentos de trabajo 17641, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    8. Young-Chul Kim & Glenn Loury, 2014. "Social externalities, overlap and the poverty trap," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(4), pages 535-554, December.
    9. Carter, Susan Payne & Dudley, Whitney & Lyle, David S. & Smith, John Z., 2019. "Who's the Boss? The effect of strong leadership on employee turnover," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 323-343.
    10. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials," NBER Working Papers 15898, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Victor Lavy, 2011. "What Makes an Effective Teacher? Quasi-Experimental Evidence," NBER Working Papers 16885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Goldhaber, Dan & Krieg, John & Theobald, Roddy, 2020. "Effective like me? Does having a more productive mentor improve the productivity of mentees?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    13. Anna I. Klieba & Yuliia O. Bludova & Nataliia A. Galushko & Olena H. Pavlova & Nataliia V. Pylypenko, 2020. "Construction of an Individual Educational Trajectory as a Way to Reveal the Personal and Professional Potential of a Future Teacher," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(7), pages 1-73, August.
    14. Eric Isenberg & Steven Glazerman & Martha Bleeker & Amy Johnson & Julieta Lugo-Gil & Mary Grider & Sarah Dolfin & Edward Britton, "undated". "Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Results from the Second Year of a Randomized Controlled Study," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 1cf29b9591064d67a33c73297, Mathematica Policy Research.
    15. Emiliana Vegas & Alejandro Ganimian & Analia Jaimovich, 2012. "Learning from the Best : Improving Learning Through Effective Teacher Policies," World Bank Publications - Reports 10057, The World Bank Group.
    16. Rockoff, Jonah E. & Speroni, Cecilia, 2011. "Subjective and objective evaluations of teacher effectiveness: Evidence from New York City," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 687-696, October.
    17. Dhushyanth Raju, 2017. "Public School Teacher Management in Sri Lanka," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 18(1), pages 39-63, March.
    18. Niculita Zenobia, 2015. "Factors That Influence The Intention For Voluntary Turnover Among Teachers," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 5, pages 90-95, October.
    19. repec:mpr:mprres:6365 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Young-Chul Kim & Glenn C. Loury, 2021. "Birds of a Feather: Life Cycle Social Externalities, Heterogeneous Beliefs, and Development Bias," Working Papers 2104, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    21. David S. Lyle & John Z. Smith, 2014. "The Effect of High-Performing Mentors on Junior Officer Promotion in the US Army," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 229-258.
    22. Kim, Young Chul, 2009. "Lifetime Network Externality and the Dynamics of Group Inequality," MPRA Paper 18767, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wiswall, Matthew, 2013. "The dynamics of teacher quality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 61-78.
    2. Daniel Aaronson & Katherine Meckel, 2009. "How will baby boomer retirements affect teacher labor markets?," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 33(Q IV), pages 2-15.
    3. Scott E. Carrell & James E. West, 2010. "Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 409-432, June.
    4. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2013. "Career Mobility Patterns of Public School Teachers," MPRA Paper 49340, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Andrew Agopsowicz & Chris Robinson & Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2020. "Careers and Mismatch for College Graduates: College and Noncollege Jobs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1194-1221.
    6. Jose Maria Cabrera & Dinand Webbink, 2020. "Do Higher Salaries Yield Better Teachers and Better Student Outcomes?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1222-1257.
    7. Li Feng, 2009. "Opportunity Wages, Classroom Characteristics, and Teacher Mobility," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(4), pages 1165-1190, April.
    8. Alejandro Ganimian & Mariana Alfonso & Ana Santiago, 2013. "Calling Their Bluff: Expressed and Revealed Preferences of Top College Graduates Entering Teaching in Argentina," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 82302, Inter-American Development Bank.
    9. Eric Hanushek & Steven Rivkin, "undated". "Constrained Job Matching: Does Teacher Job Search Harm Disadvantaged Urban Schools?," Discussion Papers 09-011, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    10. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2018. "A structural approach to assessing retention policies in public schools," MPRA Paper 90657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. C. Kirabo Jackson, 2013. "Match Quality, Worker Productivity, and Worker Mobility: Direct Evidence from Teachers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1096-1116, October.
    12. Frijters, Paul & Shields, Michael A. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2004. "To Teach or Not to Teach? Panel Data Evidence on the Quitting Decision," IZA Discussion Papers 1164, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Vera Celia P., 2019. "A Structural Approach to Assessing Retention Policies in Public Schools," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 1-26, July.
    14. Ganimian, Alejandro & Alfonso, Mariana & Santiago, Ana, 2013. "Calling Their Bluff: Expressed and Revealed Preferences of Top College Graduates Entering Teaching in Argentina," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4633, Inter-American Development Bank.
    15. Dinand Webbink & José María Cabrera, 2016. "Do higher salaries yield better teachers and better student outcomes?," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1604, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    16. Patrick Walsh, 2014. "When Unified Teacher Pay Scales Meet Differential Alternative Returns," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 304-333, July.
    17. Torberg Falch & Bjarne Strøm, 2003. "Teacher Turnover and Non-Pecuniary Factors," Working Paper Series 3604, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    18. Brian Jacob & Jonah E. Rockoff & Eric S. Taylor & Benjamin Lindy & Rachel Rosen, 2016. "Teacher Applicant Hiring and Teacher Performance: Evidence from DC Public Schools," NBER Working Papers 22054, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. 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.
    20. Dora Gicheva, 2022. "Altruism and Burnout: Long Hours in the Teaching Profession," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 427-457, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13868. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.