Teacher Quality, Teacher Licensure Tests, and Student Achievement

WORKING P A P E R Teacher Quality, Teacher Licensure Tests, and Student Achievement RICHARD BUDDIN, GEMA ZAMARRO WR-555-IES May 2008 Prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences This product is part of the RAND Education working paper series. RAND working papers are intended to share researchers’ latest findings and to solicit informal peer review. They have been approved for circulation by RAND Education but have not been formally edited or peer reviewed. Unless otherwise indicated, working papers can be quoted and cited without permission of the author, provided the source is clearly referred to as a working paper. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. is a registered trademark. ȱ ABSTRACT Teacher quality is a key element of student academic success, but little is known about how specific teacher characteristics influence classroom outcomes. This research examines whether teacher licensure test scores and other teacher attributes affect elementary student achievement. The results are based on longitudinal student-level data from Los Angeles. California requires three types of teacher licensure tests as part of the teacher certification process; a general knowledge test, a subject area test (single subject for secondary teachers and multiple subject for elementary teachers), and a reading pedagogy test for elementary school teachers. The student achievement analysis is based on a value-added approach that adjusts for both student and teacher fixed effects. The results show large differences in teacher quality across the school district, but measured teacher characteristics explain little of the difference. Teacher licensure test scores are unrelated to teacher success in the classroom. Similarly, student achievement is unaffected by whether classroom teachers have advanced degrees. Teacher experience is positively related with student achievement, but the linkage is weak and largely reflects poor outcomes for teachers during their first year or two in the classroom. (JEL: J44, J45, H0, H75, I21) (Keywords: Teacher quality, teacher licensure, student achievement, two-level fixed effects, education production function) ȱ iii ȱ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful to Harold Himmelfarb of the Institute of Education Sciences for his encouragement and support of this research. We are indebted to David Wright and William Wilson of the California State University (CSU), Office of the Chancellor, for providing access to teacher licensure test score data for recent graduates of the CSU system. Cynthia Lim and Glenn Daley of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) provided access to student achievement data and answered numerous questions about district policies and procedures. Eva Pongmanopap of LAUSD was helpful in building the student achievement files and in clarifying numerous issues about the data. Ron Zimmer and Jerry Sollinger provided comments on an earlier draft. This paper is part of a larger research project “Teacher Licensure Tests and Student Achievement” that is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences in the United States Department of Education under grant number R305M040186. ȱ v ... - tailieumienphi.vn