Working Paper: NBER ID: w18624
Authors: C. Kirabo Jackson
Abstract: This paper presents a model where teacher effects on long-run outcomes reflect effects on both cognitive skills (measured by test-scores) and non-cognitive skills (measured by non-test-score outcomes). Consistent with the model, results from administrative data show that teachers have causal effects on skills not measured by testing, but reflected in absences, suspensions, grades, and on-time grade progression. Teacher effects on these non-test-score outcomes in 9th grade predict longer-run effects on high-school completion and proxies for college-going—above and beyond their effects on test scores. Effects on non-test-score outcomes are particularly important for English teachers for whom including effects on the non-test-score outcomes triples the predicable variability of teacher effects on longer-run outcomes.
Keywords: Teacher Quality; Noncognitive Skills; Educational Outcomes; High School Completion; College Attendance
JEL Codes: H0; I21; J00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Teacher Quality (I21) | Noncognitive Skills (G53) |
| Noncognitive Skills (G53) | Long-Run Outcomes (I21) |
| Noncognitive Skills (G53) | Dropout Rates (I21) |
| Test Scores (Y10) | Dropout Rates (I21) |
| Teacher Quality (I21) | Long-Run Outcomes (I21) |