Working Paper: NBER ID: w19281
Authors: Maria D. Fitzpatrick; Michael F. Lovenheim
Abstract: Early retirement incentives (ERIs) are increasingly prevalent in education as districts seek to close budget gaps by replacing expensive experienced teachers with lower-cost newer teachers. Combined with the aging of the teacher workforce, these ERIs are likely to change the composition of teachers dramatically in the coming years. We use exogenous variation from an ERI program in Illinois in the mid-1990s to provide the first evidence in the literature of the effects of large-scale teacher retirements on student achievement. We find the program did not reduce test scores; likely, it increased them, with positive effects most pronounced in lower-SES schools.
Keywords: Early retirement incentives; student achievement; teacher retirements; education policy
JEL Codes: H75; I21; I28; J26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ERI program in Illinois (J68) | student test scores (I21) |
| teacher retirements (J26) | student achievement (I24) |
| lower SES schools (I24) | student test scores (I21) |
| teacher retirements (J26) | teacher turnover (J63) |
| teacher turnover (J63) | average experience of teachers (A21) |
| average experience of teachers (A21) | student achievement (I24) |
| teacher retirements (J26) | composition of teaching workforce (J21) |
| composition of teaching workforce (J21) | student achievement (I24) |