Uneven Playing Field? Assessing the Teacher Quality Gap Between Advantaged and Disadvantaged Students

Abstract

Policymakers aiming to close the well-documented achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students have increasingly turned their attention to issues of teacher quality. A number of studies have demonstrated that teachers are inequitably distributed across student subgroups by input measures, like experience and qualifications, as well as output measures, like value-added estimates of teacher performance, but these tend to focus on either individual measures of teacher quality or particular school districts. In this study, we present a comprehensive, descriptive analysis of the inequitable distribution of both input and output measures of teacher quality across various indicators of student disadvantage across all school districts in Washington State. We demonstrate that in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms, virtually every measure of teacher quality we examine—experience, licensure exam scores, and value added—is inequitably distributed across every indicator of student disadvantage—free/reduced-price lunch status, underrepresented minority, and low prior academic performance. Finally, we decompose these inequities to the district, school, and classroom levels and find that patterns in teacher sorting at all three levels contribute to the overall teacher quality gaps.

Widening the gap: Unequal distribution of resources for K–12 science instruction

“…This gap is evident in schools overall as well in schools with a high proportion of students eligible for FRL (means of 84 and 74 for classes of mostly high-and low-achieving students, respectively; see Appendix Table A-1). This finding supports a common perception that "the best teachers get the best students," regardless of the school-a perception that is supported by numerous studies (e.g., Goldhaber, Lavery, & Theobald, 2015). It also suggests that low-achieving students must overcome still another obstacle-inadequately prepared teachers-if they are to close the gap with their higher-achieving peers.…”

The Relationships between Teacher Quality and Sixth Grade Students’ Mathematics Competencies in Kenya and Zimbabwe

“…In sum, the distribution of teachers with high educational qualifications is not equal across the regions in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Similar to other nations (e.g., Goldhaber et al, 2015), there is an opportunity gap in students' access to teachers with higher educational qualifications.…”

“…Similarly, Goldhaber and Anthony (2007) found that non-white, poor, and underperforming students were more likely to be taught by lower quality teachers in North Carolina. Likewise, a focus on teacher quality with respect to experience, licensure score and overall effectiveness revealed the unequal distribution of teacher quality throughout the state of Washington (Goldhaber, Lavery, and Theobald, 2015). Particularly, areas higher in poverty with a larger proportion of minority students are not as enticing to high-quality teachers, meaning they must settle for more teachers of lower quality, further expanding the teaching gap.…”

“…Specifically, a "novice teacher" is defined as one who has two years of teaching experience or less, while an "experienced teacher has a minimum of ten years of experience (e.g., Goldhaber, Lavery, & Theobald, 2015). Test scores for certified teachers have been used to define teacher quality in individual states in America.…”

The Politics of Achievement Gaps

“…These schools generally have fewer resources than schools where the majority of students are White, including teachers with less experience and formal education, lower licensure scores, and lower value-added scores (Adamson & Darling-Hammond, 2012;Goldhaber, Lavery, & Theobald, 2015;Ladson-Billings, 2013;Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002). Many of these differences in resources are also evident between poor and wealthy students, with high-poverty schools tending to have lower instructional staff, teacher, and nonpersonnel expenditures than other schools in their districts (Heuer & Stullich, 2011).…”