Teacher cognitive skills shifted notably over the last decade. Using PIAAC Cycles 1-–2 for 25 countries, we document how the level, dispersion, and relative standing of teachers’ numeracy and literacy evolved within countries. The descriptive evidence reveals large heterogeneity: some countries saw teacher-skill declines of about one standard deviation, while others improved; and teachers’ position within the tertiary-educated workforce moved by 15+ percentile ranks in several countries—consistent with substantial changes in selection into teaching. We then ask which policies and labor-market conditions (e.g., relative teacher wages, outside options for high-skilled women, and teacher status) are associated with these shifts. In a second step, we relate these country-level changes in teacher skills to changes in student achievement using rich PISA microdata in mathematics and reading. For identification, we exploit within-country variation across subjects and over time, testing whether students in countries where teachers gained in numeracy relative to literacy also improved more in math relative to reading. Data on subject-specific skills in PIAAC for the overall population and for detailed occupations enables a set of robustness checks and placebo tests that help separate changes in teacher skills from broader skill changes within countries. Understanding how and why teacher skills evolve internationally–—and whether these changes translate into student achievement–—matters for policies aimed at strengthening teacher quality and improving educational outcomes.

Authors:
Sebastian Reinartz, Halle Institute for Economic Research, Germany
Erik A. Hanushek, Stanford University, United States
Andreas Schleicher, OECD, France
Simon Wiederhold, Stanford University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Sebastian Reinartz, doctoral candidate at IWH studying education economics. Current project with Erik A. Hanushek, Andreas Schleicher, and Simon Wiederhold: examining changes in teacher cognitive skills and student achievement over time.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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