TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kane,Thomas J.
AU  - Rockoff,Jonah E.
AU  - Staiger,Douglas O.
TI  - What Does Certification Tell Us About Teacher Effectiveness?  Evidence from New York City
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12155
PY  - 2006
Y2  - April 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12155
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12155.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Thomas J. Kane
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Center for Education Policy Research
50 Church St., 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/496-4359
E-Mail: kaneto@gse.harvard.edu

Jonah E. Rockoff
Columbia University
Graduate School of Business
3022 Broadway #603
New York, NY 10027-6903
Tel: 212/854-9799
Fax: 212/316-9219
E-Mail: jonah.rockoff@columbia.edu

Douglas O. Staiger
Dartmouth College
Department of Economics
HB6106, 301 Rockefeller Hall
Hanover, NH 03755-3514
Tel: 603/646-2979
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: douglas.staiger@dartmouth.edu
AB  - We use six years of data on student test performance to evaluate the effectiveness of certified, uncertified, and alternatively certified teachers in the New York City public schools. On average, the certification status of a teacher has at most small impacts on student test performance. However, among those with the same certification status, there are large and persistent differences in teacher effectiveness. This evidence suggests that classroom performance during the first two years, rather than certification status, is a more reliable indicator of a teacher's future effectiveness. We also evaluate turnover among teachers with different certification status, and the impact on student achievement of hiring teachers with predictably high turnover. Given relatively modest estimates of experience differentials, even high turnover groups (such as Teach for America participants) would have to be only slightly more effective in their first year to offset the negative effects of their high exit rates.
ER  -