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Making a difference? The effects of Teach For America in high school
Author(s) -
Xu Zeyu,
Hannaway Jane,
Taylor Colin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.20585
Subject(s) - certification , mathematics education , test (biology) , longitudinal study , psychology , student achievement , alternative teacher certification , fixed effects model , longitudinal data , association (psychology) , significant difference , panel data , medical education , political science , academic achievement , teacher education , sociology , medicine , economics , management , demography , econometrics , mathematics , statistics , paleontology , psychotherapist , biology
Teach For America (TFA) selects and places graduates from the most competitive colleges as teachers in the lowest‐performing schools in the country. This paper is the first study that examines TFA effects in high school. We use rich longitudinal data from North Carolina and estimate TFA effects through cross‐subject student and school fixed effects models. We find that TFA teachers tend to have a positive effect on high school student test scores relative to non‐TFA teachers, including those who are certified in field. Such effects offset or exceed the impact of additional years of experience and are particularly strong in science. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.