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Start the week with new work (w/ @JasonAGrissom) on the key role principals play in shaping teacher diversity. "School Principal Race, Teacher Racial Diversity, and Student Achievement" now online at @J_HumanResource.Ungated: https://bit.ly/3dePm5S 1/N
http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/02/03/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2.abstract
http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/02/03/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2.abstract
We examine how principals change the racial composition of the teacher workforce and, in turn, the extent to which this may affect student outcomes. In a nutshell, we use panel data from MO and TN to see how teacher composition changes after a school's principal changes. 2/N
Our top-line finding is that principals increase the proportion of same-race teachers in the school by 1.9 (TN) and 2.3 (MO) pct points, on average. Effects compound over time--e.g., switching from White to Black prin increases Black tch by ~5 pp after five years. 3/N
These changes are explained both by (1) increased hiring and (2) increased retention of same-race teachers. Principals are more likely to hire same-race teachers and teachers are less likely to leave their positions under a same-race principal. 4/N
For hiring, we show effects are more concentrated among transferring (vs. brand-new) teachers and those who prev. worked with prin. Same-race new hires also tend to have better value-added and qualifications, suggesting teacher-driven preference for same-race principals. 5/N
In other words, story isn't simply principals engaging in discrimination--they are likely responding to an applicant pool where same-race applicants are systematically stronger. 6/N
For turnover, race-matching lowers probability of switching schools AND exiting education system altogether. In TN, race-matched teachers report greater satisfaction, and better perceptions of leadership and school climate. 7/N
Are race-match effects driven by Black or White teachers? Suggestively (see paper for caveats), we find larger effects for Black matches, particularly in TN. 8/N
How do these compositional changes affect students? Growing body of work demonstrates that demographic congruence improves student outcomes, particularly for students of color. We leverage student-level data from TN to examine impacts on test scores and suspensions. 9/N
It takes time for new principals to shape teacher composition, so we have to account for that. We allow effect to change with the principal's tenure in school. We find a small positive effect of same-race prin for math scores, with null effects for rdg and suspensions. 10/N
Interestingly, we run a simple mediation analysis and find that math score increase isn't really explained by teacher race match or other compositional effect (e.g., higher VA). Suggests that the benefit of same-race prin is through other channels (e.g., climate). 11/N
Overall, we think this study provides important evidence about the principal's role in teacher diversity. In our data, increasing teacher diversity in schools with Black principals comes with no apparent loss with respect to measures of teacher quality. 12/N
In the paper, we also try to parse out zero-sum possibilities. Our results suggest that Black principals aren't simply re-shuffling Black teachers and that a more diverse principal workforce may encourage more teachers of color to enter the profession. 13/N
But we are somewhat limited on these latter Qs. Some of the mechanisms driving our results remain unclear, so we hope our paper can encourage some new work in this area. Still much to be learned about how to make our K-12 workforce more representative of those it serves. 14/N
