Tutor-to-Teacher Pipeline: The Effect of Working as a Tutor on Interest in Teaching

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonizing and Redefining Preparation: Global Policy Perspectives on Educator Development

Abstract

Amid growing teacher shortages, tutoring programs have emerged as a potential pathway into the profession. We provide the first causal evidence on the tutor-to-teacher pipeline using data from Teach For America, which operates both a large-scale tutoring and teacher training program. Leveraging a regression discontinuity design around the tutoring application cutoff, we find that tutoring experience increases the likelihood of applying to the teacher training program by 12 percentage points—nearly tripling the baseline rate. Effects are largest among non-education majors, men, and students of color, suggesting that tutoring activates latent interest among underrepresented groups. These findings highlight tutoring as a scalable strategy to address both teacher shortages and workforce diversity.

Authors

• Jilli Jung, Stanford University

• Carly D. Robinson, Stanford University

• Susanna Loeb, Stanford University