Julie R. Trivitt

Teacher Effectiveness An Analysis of Licensure Screens

Historically, the government has sought to improve the quality of the teacher workforce by requiring certification. Teachers are among the most licensed public personnel employees in the United States. Traditionally, an education degree with a student teaching experience and passage of licensure exams were necessary for licensure. In the 1980s, alternative paths to certification developed. In this article, we evaluated the impact of licensure screens and licensure routes on student achievement. Our findings from an analysis of Arkansas data suggest that there is little difference in terms of quality between traditionally and alternatively certified teachers. However, licensure exams do have some predictive power.

Household‐Level Education Borrowing Constraints: Evidence Using the College Attendance of the Sisters of Vietnam Draft Avoiders

Most studies of U.S. education borrowing constraints are based on an individual male household member and find that they have little effect on educational attainment. We argue that the correct unit of analysis is the attainment of all sibling intrahousehold resource rivals. We use the male college attendance return shock associated with Vietnam War conscription risk as a quasi‐natural experiment. In credit‐constrained households, scarce education resources should shift toward at‐risk males and manifest in lower attainment by resource rival sisters. We find significantly lower attendance among rival sisters. Our findings cast doubt on assertions that borrowing constraints do not affect attainment.

Does Child Labor Reduce Youth Crime

This paper explores the nexus between youth-employment, youth-crime, and socialization in the context of the child labor debate in economics. The analysis draws upon both economics and sociology and suggests that neglect of the socializing benefits of youth (and perhaps child) employment in the economics literature is a potentially important lacuna. The sociology literature contains evidence that youth-labor reduces criminal propensity. If this effect extends to the youth who are the subject of the economics child-labor literature, potentially large private and external benefits of some-types of child-labor have been ignored. After presenting evidence of the linkage between youth-socialization, youth-employment, and youth-crime we consider possible implications for child-labor policies.

Teacher Qualifications and Productivity in Secondary Schools.

This study examined the relationship between observable teacher characteristics and productivity as measured by an increase in student achievement on a standardized test using a value-added approach. This analysis focused on teachers of algebra, geometry, and 11th grade English Language Arts in Arkansas. The authors generated a value-added score at the school-course level and attributed that score to each teacher of that course in the school. The authors then regressed observable teacher characteristics on the value-added measure. The authors found no evidence that teacher certification route affects student tests scores, but found that higher ability math teachers do lead to higher scores.