scholarly journals Teacher Layoffs, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Discretionary Layoff Policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Kraft
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Principal Evaluations ◽  
Experimental Variation ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Teacher Layoffs

Most teacher layoffs during the Great Recession were implemented following inverse-seniority policies. In this paper, I examine the implementation of a discretionary layoff policy in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Administrators did not uniformly lay off the most or least senior teachers but instead selected teachers who were previously retired, late-hired, unlicensed, low-performing, or nontenured. Using quasi-experimental variation within schools across grades, I then estimate the differential effects of teacher layoffs on student achievement based on teacher seniority and effectiveness. Mathematics achievement in grades that lost an effective teacher, as measured by principal evaluations or value-added scores, decreased 0.05 to 0.11 standard deviations more than in grades that lost an ineffective teacher. In contrast, teacher seniority has limited predictive power on the effects of layoffs. Simulation analyses show that the district selected teachers who were, on average, less effective than those teachers identified under an inverse-seniority policy, and also reduced job losses.

scholarly journals Measuring the Impacts of Teachers I: Evaluating Bias in Teacher Value-Added Estimates

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (9) ◽  
pp. 2593-2632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Chetty ◽  
John N. Friedman ◽  
Jonah E. Rockoff
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School District ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Good Measure ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Unbiased Estimates ◽  
Parent Characteristics

Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores (value-added) a good measure of their quality? One reason this question has sparked debate is disagreement about whether value-added (VA) measures provide unbiased estimates of teachers' causal impacts on student achievement. We test for bias in VA using previously unobserved parent characteristics and a quasi-experimental design based on changes in teaching staff. Using school district and tax records for more than one million children, we find that VA models which control for a student's prior test scores provide unbiased forecasts of teachers' impacts on student achievement. (JEL H75, I21, J24, J45)

scholarly journals Digitalization to Improve Tax Compliance

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (231) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Bellon ◽  
Jillie Chang ◽  
Era Dabla-Norris ◽  
Salma Khalid ◽  
Frederico Lima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
First Year ◽  
Compliance Costs ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Experimental Variation ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines the impact of e-invoicing on firm tax compliance and performance using administrative tax data and quasi-experimental variation in the rollout of VAT electronic invoicing in Peru. We find that e-invoicing increases reported firm sales, purchases and value-added by over 5 percent in the first year after adoption. The impact is concentrated among smaller firms and sectors with higher rates of non-compliance, suggesting that e-invoicing enhances compliance by lowering compliance costs and strengthening deterrence. The reform’s positive effects on tax collection are hindered by shortcomings in the VAT refund mechanism in Peru, suggesting that digital tools such as e-invoicing should be complemented by other reforms to improve revenue mobilization.

Exploring the Intended and Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation on Schools, Teachers, and Students

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Alyson Leah Lavigne
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Improve Student Achievement ◽  
Teacher Workforce

Background/Context The stakes are getting higher for teachers daily as more and more states adopt hiring, firing, and tenure-granting policies based on teacher evaluations. Even more concerning is the limited discussion about whether or not high-stakes teacher evaluation can meet the intended outcome of improved student achievement, and at what cost. These high-stakes decisions are based on the rationale that firing ineffective teachers (as primarily measured by observation data and value-added scores) will improve student achievement. This premise is challenged by various variables and assumptions (e.g., reliability, validity, percentage fired, and turnover) that, if not met, could result in a number of possible unintended consequences. Focus of Study This paper examines the history of high-stakes teacher evaluation and the ways in which teacher evaluation data are being used in today's schools to make human capital decisions. The intended consequences and unintended consequences are explored in great detail. Research Design This paper is an analytic essay. Conclusions/Recommendations There is no evidence that high-stakes teacher evaluation can produce a more effective teacher workforce and improve student achievement. Even if basic requirements and assumptions are met (e.g., highly reliable and valid measures, retention of effective teachers, and highly effective hires), gains in student achievement may be short lived, insignificant, or practically meaningless. The possible unintended consequences could result in worse, rather than better, student achievement outcomes and increase the gap in opportunity to learn for students attending the most and least affluent schools.

scholarly journals Schooling During the Great Recession: Patterns of School Spending and Student Achievement Using Population Data

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 233285841987743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Shores ◽  
Matthew P. Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
English Language ◽  
Population Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Using Data

The Great Recession was the most severe economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression. Using data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), we describe the patterns of math and English language arts (ELA) achievement for students attending schools in communities differentially affected by recession-induced employment shocks. Employing a difference-in-differences strategy that leverages both cross-county variation in the economic shock of the recession and within-county, cross-cohort variation in school-age years of exposure to the recession, we find that declines in student math and ELA achievement were greater for cohorts of students attending school during the Great Recession in communities most adversely affected by recession-induced employment shocks, relative to cohorts of students that entered school after the recession had officially ended. Moreover, declines in student achievement were larger in school districts serving more economically disadvantaged and minority students. We conclude by discussing potential policy responses.

scholarly journals Unemployment Insurance Taxes and Labor Demand: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Administrative Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 266-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Firm Behavior ◽  
Labor Demand ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Payroll Tax ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Regression Kink Design

To finance unemployment insurance, states raise payroll tax rates on employers who engage in layoffs. Tax rates are, therefore, highest for firms after downturns, potentially hampering labor-market recovery. Using full-population, administrative records from Florida, I estimate the effect of these tax increases on firm behavior leveraging a regression kink design in the tax schedule. Tax hikes reduce hiring and employment substantially, with no effect on layoffs or wages. The results imply unanticipated costs of the financing regime which reduce the optimal benefit by a quarter and account for 12 percent of the unemployment in the wake of the Great Recession. (JEL D22, E24, H25, H32, H71, J23, J65)

scholarly journals Do Credit Market Shocks Affect the Real Economy? Quasi-experimental Evidence from the Great Recession and “Normal” Economic Times

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Greenstone ◽  
Alexandre Mas ◽  
Hoai-Luu Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Bank Lending ◽  
County Level ◽  
Real Economy ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Market Shares ◽  
Business Loan ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Market Shocks

Using comprehensive data on bank lending and establishment-level outcomes from 1997–2010, this paper finds that small business lending is an unimportant determinant of small business and overall economic activity. A shift-share style research design is implemented to predict county-level lending shocks using variation in preexisting bank market shares and bank supply shifts. Counties with negative predicted lending shocks experienced declines in small business loan originations, indicating that it is costly to switch lenders. However, small business loan originations have an economically insignificant and generally statistically insignificant impact on both small firm and overall employment during the Great Recession and normal times. (JEL E32, E44, E52, G21, G32, L25)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document