Non-Cognitive Ability, Test Scores, and Teacher Quality: Evidence from 9th Grade Teachers in North Carolina

Abstract

and Steven Rivkin for insightful comments. I also thank Kara Bonneau from the NCERDC and Shayna Silverstein. This research was supported by funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peerreviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations

“…Recent research shows that teachers affect important socioeconomic outcomes including educational attainment, labor market success, and criminal activity (e.g., Chetty, Friedman, & Rockoff, 2013;Jackson, 2012). However, the mechanisms through which high school teachers affect these outcomes are poorly understood.…”

Does education strengthen the life skills of adolescents?

“…In some cases, the effects are even negative, as with conscientiousness. On the other hand, studies that assess the effect of a specific intervention targeted at strengthening life skills or teacher quality, where life skills are measured by a behavioral proxy, find significant, positive treatment effects [2], [7], [8]. Note: Each row plots the treatment effects of interest from a separate study, followed by a short description of the type of treatment.…”

“…Some studies use the big five personality traits, a widely accepted model to describe five broad dimensions of personality including openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism [4], [5], [6], whereas others rely on a mix of measures such as self-esteem, internal locus of control [3], grit, self-control, or stand-ins of economic preferences [1], [9], [10], [11]. Some studies use certain behavioral proxies of life skills derived from administrative data such as absentee rates, in-class effort, or ontime graduation [2], [7], [8].…”

“…The treatments considered in each study differ widely, as can be seen from a summary presented in Figure 2. For instance, schooling is defined in a broad sense that encompasses years of schooling [3], university education [4], the learning intensity in high school [5], [6], class size [7], and teacher quality [8]. School programs and interventions that explicitly target life skills comprise US-based charter schools [1], [9], England's "XL Club program" [10], as well as Chicago's "Becoming a Man" program [11] and "OneGoal" program [2].…”

“…Source: For full source details see: http://wol.iza.org/articles/does-education-strengthen-the-life-skills-of-adolescents Becoming a Man [11] XL Club Program [10] OneGoal [2] Teacher quality [8] Promise Academy [9] Boston Charter School [1] College vs < 12 yrs [3] Learn. Intensity Reform [5] College vs no college [4] Learn.…”