Working Paper: NBER ID: w15202
Authors: C. Kirabo Jackson; Elias Bruegmann
Abstract: Using longitudinal elementary school teacher and student data, we document that students have larger test score gains when their teachers experience improvements in the observable characteristics of their colleagues. Using within-school and within-teacher variation, we further show that a teacher's students have larger achievement gains in math and reading when she has more effective colleagues (based on estimated value-added from an out-of-sample pre-period). Spillovers are strongest for less-experienced teachers and persist over time, and historical peer quality explains away about twenty percent of the own-teacher effect, results that suggest peer learning.
Keywords: Peer Learning; Teacher Effectiveness; Education Policy
JEL Codes: I20; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| teacher effectiveness (A21) | peer quality (C92) |
| peer quality (C92) | student achievement (I24) |
| teacher effectiveness (A21) | student achievement (I24) |
| peer quality (C92) | teacher effectiveness (A21) |
| historical peer quality (L15) | teacher effectiveness (A21) |