Should elementary teachers specialize? The Research

Spread Too Thin: The Effects of Teacher Specialization on Student Achievement


NaYoung Hwang,
 
Brian Kisida
10/2021

Although the majority of elementary school teachers are in self-contained classrooms and teach all major subjects, a growing number of teachers specialize in teaching fewer subjects to higher numbers of students. We use administrative data from Indiana to estimate the effect of teacher specialization on teacher and school effectiveness in elementary schools. We find that teacher specialization leads to lower teaching effectiveness in math and reading, and the negative effects are larger when teaching students who are more likely to experience difficulties in school. Moreover, we find no evidence that increasing the proportion of teacher specialists at the school level generates improvements in indicators of school quality.

Keywords
teacher specialization, student-teacher relationship, teaching effectiveness
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Educator preparation, professional development, performance and eva..., 
Program and policy effects
Download 10/2021
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/616s-he51


EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:

Hwang, NaYoung, and Brian Kisida. (2021). Spread Too Thin: The Effects of Teacher Specialization on Student Achievement. (EdWorkingPaper: 21-477). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/616s-he51

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