Better Guides, Better Paths: Demystifying the Long-Term Impacts of Teacher Qualifications on Secondary Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 55
  In Roundtable Session: Better Tools for Measuring Teacher Effectiveness

Abstract

Teachers undoubtedly play a significant role in the educational success of their students. Yet there is little consensus on whether the most common indicators of teacher qualifications – such as years of experience, advanced degree, and expertise in their subject matter – actually improve their students’ academic success; likewise, scholars have tended to study these effects only in the short-term achievement. Therefore, to better articulate these effects over time, this paper examines how teacher qualifications influence the high school graduation and college enrollment of their students. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, the study shows that qualifications for teachers in math and science fields had a meaningful influence on their students’ high school graduation and college enrollment.

Author

• Se Woong Lee, University of Wisconsin - Madison