The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools

40 Pages Posted: 5 Jun 2008 Last revised: 26 Oct 2022

See all articles by Donald Boyd

Donald Boyd

SUNY at Albany

Hamilton Lankford

SUNY at Albany - College of Arts and Sciences

Susanna Loeb

Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jonah E. Rockoff

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

James H. Wyckoff

SUNY at Albany - College of Arts and Sciences

Date Written: June 2008

Abstract

The gap between the qualifications of New York City teachers in high-poverty schools and low-poverty schools has narrowed substantially since 2000. Most of this gap-narrowing resulted from changes in the characteristics of newly hired teachers, and largely has been driven by the virtual elimination of newly hired uncertified teachers coupled with an influx of teachers with strong academic backgrounds in the Teaching Fellows program and Teach for America. The improvements in teacher qualifications, especially among the poorest schools, appear to have resulted in improved student achievement. By estimating the effect of teacher attributes using a value-added model, the analyses in this paper predict that observable qualifications of teachers resulted in average improved achievement for students in the poorest decile of schools of .03 standard deviations, about half the difference between being taught by a first year teacher and a more experienced teacher. If limited to teachers who are in the first or second year of teaching, where changes in qualifications are greatest, the gain equals two-thirds of the first-year experience effect.

Suggested Citation

Boyd, Donald and Lankford, Hamilton and Loeb, Susanna and Rockoff, Jonah E. and Wyckoff, James H., The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools (June 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w14021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1141143

Donald Boyd (Contact Author)

SUNY at Albany ( email )

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
United States

Hamilton Lankford

SUNY at Albany - College of Arts and Sciences ( email )

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
United States

Susanna Loeb

Stanford University ( email )

School of Education 402P CERAS, 520 Galvez Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
United States
650-725-4262 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Jonah E. Rockoff

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

James H. Wyckoff

SUNY at Albany - College of Arts and Sciences ( email )

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
United States

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