Chris Blattman

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Do financial incentives for teachers improve student performance? Evidence from NYC

This paper describes a school-based randomized trial in over two-hundred New York City public schools designed to better understand the impact of teacher incentives on student achievement. I find no evidence that teacher incentives increase student performance, attendance, or graduation, nor do I find any evidence that the incentives change student or teacher behavior. If anything, teacher incentives may decrease student achievement, especially in larger schools. The paper concludes with a speculative discussion of theories that may explain these stark results.

A new paper from Roland Fryer.

Also interesting from Fryer: why it may not take a village.

One Response

  1. As a new teacher, one variable that I think economists should measure is the variability of reading/writing/math etc on a per-class basis. I believe that a low variability of cognitive ability allows a teacher to maximize cognitive gains, regardless of the average intelligence level.

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