Do Low-Income Students Have Equal Access to Effective Teachers?

Abstract

We examine access to effective teachers for low-income students in 26 geographically dispersed school districts over a 5-year period. We measure teacher effectiveness using a value-added model that accounts for measurement error in prior test scores and peer effects. Differences between the average value added of teachers of high- and low-income students are 0.005 standard deviations in English/language arts and 0.004 standard deviations in math. Differences between teachers of Black, Hispanic, and White students are also small. Rearranging teachers to obtain perfect equity would do little to narrow the sizable student achievement gap between low- and high-income students. We also show that a higher proportion of novice teachers in high-poverty schools contributes negligibly to differences in access to effective teachers.

Spillover Effects of Recruiting Teachers for School Turnaround: Evidence From Tennessee

“…Students taught by more effective teachers have higher test score gains, more positive non-cognitive outcomes, and better long-term outcomes (Aaronson et al, 2007; Chetty et al, 2014; Hanushek, 2011; Jackson, 2018; Jackson et al, 2014; Koedel & Betts, 2007; Rivkin et al, 2005; Rockoff, 2004; Sanders et al, 1997). Unfortunately, research also finds that schools with high-poverty, high-minority, and low-performing students employ less effective and less experienced teachers (Glazerman & Max, 2011; Goldhaber et al, 2015; Isenberg et al, 2013; Loeb et al, 2012; Sass et al, 2012; Steele et al, 2015). To disrupt this unequal distribution of teachers, educational leaders and policymakers have implemented a number of policies to recruit effective teachers into low-performing schools, including financial incentives and even involuntary transfers (Grissom et al, 2014; Springer et al, 2016).…”

Sustainability of Evaluation: The Origin and Development of Value-Added Evaluation from the Global Perspective

“…For example, public schools in North Carolina use teacher value-added and evaluation rating data to estimate the signaling and human capital effects of graduate degrees [77]. In addition, research has analyzed the relationship between family income and student value-added [78,79]. Value-added evaluation has accumulated experience of continuous change in the long-term development process, showing good institutional stability.…”

Segregate, Discriminate, Signal: A Model for Understanding Policy Drivers of Educational Inequality

“…It is especially important to note the disparity in the most crucial schoolbased resource: good teachers (McCaffrey et al, 2003;Rivkin et al, 2005). Sizable evidence substantiates the fact that students of color are significantly less likely to have access to effective, qualified, and experienced teachers (Goldhaber et al, 2015;Isenberg et al, 2016;Sass et al, 2012). Several factors are at play in this pattern, including the difficulty of recruiting teachers to high-need schools serving predominately students of color, which could be associated with the fact that the teacher workforce in the United States is overwhelmingly White (Carver-Thomas, 2018; Villegas & Irvine, 2010); as well as high teacher turnover rates, which are often a result of poorer working conditions at these schools (Ingersoll & May, 2011;Ingersoll & Smith, 2003).…”