In: Economics
1-what is the causal effect of higher value-added
teachers on college attendance rates,adults earnings,and teenage
pregnancy rates?
Recent research using this VA framework indicates that teachers can indeed have long-term positive or negative effects on their students starting as early as elementary school. Building off of a 2011 study from Harvard and Columbia universities, Harvard University economist Gary Chamberlain further explores this concept as he seeks to quantify the short- and long-term impact of hundreds of fourth- through eighth-grade teachers by observing them in multiple classrooms. In his paper, “Predictive Effects of Teachers and Schools on Test Scores, College Attendance and Earnings,” Chamberlain considers three student outcomes: average score on a math or reading test given near the end of the school year, fraction of the students in a given class attending college at age 20, and average income at age 28. By holding constant additional relevant variables, he is able to estimate predictive effects of teacher quality.
Teachers in all grades from 4 to 8 have large impacts on their students' adult lives. On average, a 1-standard-deviation improvement in teacher value added (equivalent to having a teacher in the 84th percentile rather than one at the median) in a single grade raises a student's earnings at age 28 by about 1 percent.
Teenage pregnancy is associated with several adverse consequences for child health. These risks include low birth weight, pre-term delivery, and neonatal and infant mortality. These consequences are more severe when the mother is young.