Teacher Effects on Achievement and Anthropometrics: A Cautionary Tale

• In Event: Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: Policy Issues Related to Teacher Effectiveness

Abstract

This paper investigates possible biases to value-added estimates of teacher effectiveness, using a placebo test. We compare the distribution of teacher effects on math and reading with the distribution of teacher effects on height and weight using data from the ECLS-K. Although it is unlikely that teachers in the US can actually influence student anthropometric growth, we find substantial variation in teacher effects on height and weight. While these placebo teacher effects are not as large as teacher effects in math and reading, they suggest that teacher value-added models may overstate the extent to which teacher effectiveness is captured in value added estimates.

Authors

• Marianne Bitler, University of California - Irvine

• Thurston Domina, University of California - Irvine

• Emily K. Penner, University of California - Irvine