Teacher Incentives: New Study Shows No Impact on Student Performance

There is tremendous interest around the world in incentivizing teachers through financial payments and performance rankings. A new study of the New York City public schools - the largest public system in the US - finds no impact on students. Abstract below:

Teacher Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from New York City Public Schools
Roland G. Fryer
NBER Working Paper No. 16850
Issued in March 2011
NBER Program(s): ED LS

"Financial incentives for teachers to increase student performance is an increasingly popular education policy around the world. This paper describes a school-based randomized trial in over two-hundred New York City public schools designed to better understand the impact of teacher incentives on student achievement. I find no evidence that teacher incentives increase student performance, attendance, or graduation, nor do I find any evidence that the incentives change student or teacher behavior. If anything, teacher incentives may decrease student achievement, especially in larger schools. The paper concludes with a speculative discussion of theories that may explain these stark results.



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