Class-size reduction policies and the quality of entering teachers

Abstract

State-wide class-size reduction (CSR) policies have typically failed to produce large achievement gains. One explanation is that the introduction of such policies forces schools to hire relatively low-quality teachers. This paper uses data from an anonymous state to explore whether teacher quality suffered from the introduction of CSR. We find that it did, but not nearly enough to explain the small achievement effects of CSR. The combined fall in achievement due to hiring lower quality teachers and more inexperienced teachers is small relative to the unrealized gains. Furthermore, betweenschool differences in the quality of incoming teachers cannot explain the poor estimated CSR performance from previous quasi-experimental treatment-control comparisons. * I would like to thank

Nordic Economic Policy Review 2022: COVID-19 Effects on the Economy in the Nordics

“…Moreover, Chetty et al (2014) show that students assigned to high quality teachers have better long-term educational and labour market outcomes. An implication of the above is that the potentially positive effect of smaller classes might be offset by poorer quality teachers (Jepsen & Rivkin 2009, Dieterle 2015.…”

Mind the Gap: Measuring Academic Underachievement Using Stochastic Frontier Analysis

“…Prior results for the influence of class size on achievement are mixed. Whereas some studies found that pupils' achievement is reduced in larger classes (Bressoux, 2009;Krueger, 1999), other studies found no effect (Dieterle, 2015;Hoxby, 2000), and still others found that pupils' achievement improves in larger classes (Denny & Oppedisano, 2013). We are able to potentially reconcile these diverse results by applying a specific SFA model that allows for a nonmonotonic influence of class size on academic underachievement (Wang, 2002).…”