Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood

Authors
Raj Chetty,
John Friedman,
Jonah Rockoff
Year of publication
2014
Publication
American Economic Review
Volume/Issue
104(9)
Pages
2633-79

Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores ("value-added") a good measure of their quality? This question has sparked debate partly because of a lack of evidence on whether high value-added (VA) teachers improve students' long-term outcomes. Using school district and tax records for more than one million children, we find that students assigned to high-VA teachers are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, and are less likely to have children as teenagers. Replacing a teacher whose VA is in the bottom 5% with an average teacher would increase the present value of students' lifetime income by approximately $250,000 per classroom.

Suggested Citation

Chetty, R., Friedman, J., & Rockoff, J. (2014). Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood. American Economic Review, 104(9), 2633-79