1

Concentration of Low-Performing Students (8th grade Math, 2005)

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Percentage of schools

Per

cen

tag

e o

f L

evel

1 S

tud

ents

Level 1

Level 2

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

percent of schools

pe

rce

nt

of

stu

de

nts

in

sc

ho

ol

Lowest 5%

Low 20% Middle-Low 25% Middle-High 25%

High 25%

Lowest 5%

Low 20% Middle-Low 25% Middle-High 25%

High 25%

Percent of Students in Schools Scoring at Level 1 on 4th Grade Math Exam, 2002

3

Improving Teaching Quality

Teaching Quality = Outcomes for children

Improve the performance of those who enter teaching

Attract more able individuals to teaching Retain able individuals in teaching

What are the most effective policies?

4

Age Distribution of New York State Teachers, 1985-2006

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

20 30 40 50 60 70

Age

nu

mb

er o

f te

ach

ers

1985

2000

2006

55

5

Attributes of Teachers in NYS Elementary Schools Grouped by Level 1 Scores on 4th Grade Math Exam

Percent of teachers Lowest

5% Low 20%

Middle-Low 25%

Middle-High 25%

High 25%

State-wide

0-1 year prior teaching experience

21.9

21.1

15.9

13.4

12.3

16.2

failed general know-ledge or LAST exam

35.7

29.8

16.9

11.1

10.1

19.1

BA from a least competitive college

27.8

23.1

15.1

11.5

11.4

15.9

not certified in any assignment

28.8

23.6

11.4

5.8

4.3

12.5

Teacher Sorting

6

Attract more able teachers

To what extent do working conditions and/or compensation affect who enters teaching?

Reduce the costs of becoming a teacher

7

Figure 4: Potential Costs and Benefits of Alternative Certification on the Distribution of

Teaching Ability

Teaching Ability

T5

T4

A E

8

Draw of Home

• 85 percent of teachers take a first job within 40 miles of home

Region of First Job 0 to 15 miles

15 to 40 miles

40 to 100 miles

100 or more miles

Buffalo City 76.0 10.3 3.7 9.9Buffalo suburbs 71.0 18.3 4.3 6.3New York City 63.4 26.9 6.6 3.1New York City Sub 71.0 22.7 3.6 2.8Rochester City 54.2 11.4 18.7 15.8Rochester Suburbs 44.8 25.9 18.2 11.2All 60.8 23.9 8.6 6.7

Distance from Home to First Job

9

Urban Districts Net Importer of Teachers Location of Home by Location of First Job, 1999-2002

Region of First Job Region of

Home NYC Suburbs of NYC

Rest of State N

NYC row % 91.8 6.1 2.1

column % 65.4 6.3 1.2 9,839

Suburbs row % 31.0 63.3 5.7 of NYC column % 30.1 88.9 4.4 13,431

Rest of row % 3.5 2.6 91.6 State column % 4.5 4.8 94.4 17,555

N 13,826 9,564 17,435 40,825

10

NYC Salary Schedule 2002-03Experience BA MA MA + 30

1 39,000 43,786 45,080

2 39,325 44,111 45,405

3 39,650 44,436 45,730

4 40,225 45,011 46,305

5 40,720 45,506 46,800

6 41,255 46,041 47,335

7 43,136 47,922 49.216

8 48,231 53,017 54,311

10 54,476 59,262 60,556

13 56,182 60,968 62,262

15 59,786 64,572 65,866

18 60,732 65,518 66,812

20 67,724 72,510 73,804

22 71,659 76,445 77,739

11

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

year

sala

ry

NYC-1

NYC-20

suburbs-1

suburbs-20

Real Salaries of Teachers in NYC and Its Suburbs(1 and 20 years of experience, 2003 dollars)

12

Structure of Nominal Teacher Salaries, All Districts, 1970-2002

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Experience

no

min

al

sa

lary

1970

1980

1990

2002

13

Structure of Real Teacher Salaries, All Districts, 1970, 2002

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Experience

Sal

ary

2002

1970

14

Structure of Real Teacher Salaries

1970-1980

1980-1990

1990-1998

1998-2002

1970-2002

% Backloading 93.5 32.8 62.3 39.1 86.6

novices -26.1 22.1 0.3 8.0 -5.6 veterans -15.9 17.4 3.3 8.4 5.4

novices -17 25.4 2.8 5.3 -4.1 veterans -20.8 15.5 -4.2 -0.2 -9.5

novices -26.8 15.4 -1.2 12.2 -5.8 veterans -15.5 21.4 7.8 21.9 7.7

Backloading districts

All districts

Frontloading districts

15

Improve Performance of Teachers

Better knowledge and skills Improve other inputs (e.g. principals,

computers) Different technology Incentives to perform better

16

Figure 1: Potential Benefits of Enhanced Preparation Requirements on the Distribution of

Teaching Ability

Teaching Ability

T1 T2

A B

nu

mb

er o

f te

ach

ers

17

Figure 2: Potential Costs of Enhanced Preparation Requirements on the Distribution of Teaching

Ability

Teaching Ability

T1

T3

AC

18

Retain able teachers

Incentives to remain Stronger performance based job retention

19

Rates at Which Teachers Leave NYS Districts, 1998-2000

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Years in District

qu

it r

ate

20

Proportion of NYC Teachers Who Transferred to Another District by Cohort and Experience

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

0 2 4 6 8 10

number of years

pro

po

rtio

n t

ran

sfer

rin

g (

in t

ota

l)

1990

1993

19961999

2002

21

The Importance of Place

Annual Turnover of First-Year Teachers by NYC Residency Prior to Taking First Job

Location Remain

in School Transfer

within NYC Transfer

out of NYC Quit

Teaching

NYC Resident 84.9 8.1 0.9 6.1

Nonresident 75.3 6.8 9.7 8.3

22

Do Licensure Requirements Improve Student Outcomes?

To what extent do the knowledge and skills provided in teacher preparation programs improve teachers’ ability to improve outcomes for students? (Preparation)

How effective are licensure exams in differentiating teachers who are inadequate in improving student outcomes from those who are at least adequate? (Exams)

Does the requirement that teachers be licensed deter some individuals from becoming teachers who would have been successful in improving student outcomes? (Supply)

How effective is local hiring in discerning the attributes of teachers who most effectively improve student outcomes? (Hiring)

23

Figure 3: Potential Costs and Benefits of Enhanced Preparation Requirements on the

Distribution of Teaching Ability

Teaching Ability

T1

T4

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