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Cited by 2,432School Choice and PerformanceTeacher Education and AssessmentsEducational Environments and Student Outcomes

The Impact of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data

Rockoff, Jonah E·2004·American Economic Review
DOI 10.1257/0002828041302244
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Abstract

Teacher quality is widely believed to be important for education, despite little evidence that teachers' credentials matter for student achievement. To accurately measure variation in achievement due to teachers' characteristics-both observable and unobservable-it is essential to identify teacher fixed effects. Unlike previous studies, I use panel data to estimate teacher fixed effects while controlling for fixed student characteristics and classroom specific variables. I find large and statistically significant differences among teachers: a one standard deviation increase in teacher quality raises reading and math test scores by approximately .20 and .24 standard deviations, respectively, on a nationally standardized scale. In addition, teaching experience has statistically significant positive effects on reading test scores, controlling for fixed teacher quality.

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  • The 0.12 standard deviation gain is at least as large as the gap in performance between a novice and a teacher with five to ten years of experience.

    “A gain of 0.12σ is also at least as large as the difference in performance between a novice teacher and a 5 to 10 year veteran (Rockoff 2004, Papay and Kraft 2015).”

    From Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data (2020) · cites this paper as Rockoff 2004

    Rockoff reports that beginning teachers and teachers with ten years of experience differ by about 0.20 standard deviations in reading scores (Introduction, p. 3; Empirical Results, p. 15). At the ten-year end of the claimed range, that gap is larger than 0.12, not no larger than it. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Experience on the job is a consistent source of differences in teacher performance.

    “One seemingly consistent source of differences in teacher performance is experience on the job (Rockoff 2004, Harris and Sass 2011, Papay and Kraft 2015).”

    From Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data (2020) · cites this paper as Rockoff 2004

    The Introduction (p. 3) and Empirical Results (p. 15) report that teaching experience significantly improves reading test scores. But the Empirical Results (p. 16) find little evidence of gains in math, so this paper does not establish experience as a consistent source of performance differences across subjects. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Peer learning may substantially contribute to the commonly cited returns to teaching experience.

    “The magnitude of those improvements suggests peer learning may be as important as on-the-job experience in teacher skill development (Rockoff 2004, Papay and Kraft forthcoming); indeed, peer learning may be a key contributor to the oft-cited estimates of returns to experience in teaching.”

    From Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data (2020) · cites this paper as Rockoff 2004

    The Empirical Results (p. 15) report gains in reading scores associated with teaching experience, supporting the reference to returns to experience. The paper does not identify peer learning as a contributor to those gains, so it does not support the proposed mechanism. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The magnitude of the improvements suggests peer learning may be as important as on-the-job experience in teacher skill development.

    “The magnitude of those improvements suggests peer learning may be as important as on-the-job experience in teacher skill development (Rockoff 2004, Papay and Kraft forthcoming); indeed, peer learning may be a key contributor to the oft-cited estimates of returns to experience in teaching.”

    From Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data (2020) · cites this paper as Rockoff 2004

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 13

  1. [1][1] Abowd, John M and Francis Kramarz, 'The Analysis of Labor Markets Using Matched Employer-Employee Data' Handbook of Labor Economics. Volume 3B. Ashenfelter, Orley Card, David, eds., Handbooks in Economics, vol. 5. Amsterdam; New York and Oxford: Elsevier Science, North-Holland. p 2629-2710. 1999. -
  2. [3][3] Angrist, Joshua and Victor Lavy, 'Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size of Scholastic Achievement,' Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1999. -
  3. [7][7] Figlio, David N., 'Teacher Salaries and Teacher Quality,' Economics Letters, August, 1997. -
  4. [8][8] Hanushek, Eric A., 'Teacher Characteristics and Gains in Student Achievement: Estimation Using Micro Data,' American Economic Review, May, 1971. -
  5. [9][9] Hanushek, Eric A., 'The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools,' Journal of Economic Literature, September, 1986. -
  6. [10][10] \_\_\_\_, 'The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality,' Journal of Political Economy, February 1992. -
  7. [11][11] Hanushek, Eric A. and Steven G. Rivkin, 'Understanding the Twentieth-Century Growth in U.S. School Spending,' Journal of Human Resources, Winter, 1997. -
  8. [14][14] \_\_\_\_, 'The Effects of Class Size on Student Achievement: New Evidence from Population Variation,' Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 2000. -
  9. [18][18] Krueger, Alan, 'Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions,' Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1999. -
  10. [20][20] Lavy, Victor, 'Evaluating the Effect of Teacher Performance Incentives on Students' Achievements,' Journal of Political Economy, December, 2002. -
  11. [21][21] Manski, Charles, 'Identification of Endogenous Social Effects: The Reflection Problem,' Review of Economic Studies, July, 1993. -
  12. [22][22] Murnane, Richard, The Impact of School Resources on the Learning of Inner City Children. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1975. -
  13. [25][25] Summers, Anita and Barbara Wolfe, 'Do Schools Make a Difference?,' American Economic Review, September, 1977.

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Authors
Rockoff, J. E.
Affiliations
National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
Corresponding author
Rockoff, Jonah E
Venue
American Economic Review
Publisher
American Economic Association
Published
2004-04-01
Volume
94
Issue
2
Pages
247-252
ISSN
0002-8282 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1257/0002828041302244
OpenAlex
W1500234137
Cited by
2,432
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 140 · 2021: 115 · 2020: 131 · 2019: 211 · 2018: 166 · 2017: 127 · 2016: 153 · 2015: 176 · 2014: 185 · 2013: 175 · 2012: 125
FWCI
188.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Economic Review (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Assessments
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
Keywords
teacher quality, academic performance, teacher credentials, teaching experience, reading scores, mathematics scores, classroom characteristics, student characteristics, standardized test scores

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