- Title
- Does Teacher Testing Raise Teacher Quality? Evidence from State Certification Requirements
- Author(s)
- Joshua D. Angrist Joshua Angrist (MIT and NBER )
- Jonathan Guryan Jonathan Guryan (University of Chicago and NBER )
- Abstract
- Most US states require public school teachers to pass a standardized test for licensure. Although any such entry barrier is likely to raise wages, the theoretical effects on teacher quality are ambiguous. Testing places a floor on measured skills, but imposes costs, which may especially deter high-quality applicants. Moreover, testing may disqualify applicants that schools would otherwise hire. Estimates using Schools and Staffing Survey data suggest state-mandated testing is associated with increases in teacher wages, though we find no evidence of a corresponding increase in quality as measured by educational background. Testing also appears to reduce the fraction of new teachers who are Hispanic.
- Creation Date
- 2007-05
- Section URL ID
- Paper Number
- 21
- URL
- https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp01v979v310x/4/21ers.pdf
- File Function
- Jel
- I21, J24, J44
- Keyword(s)
- Suppress
- false
- Series
- 2