Does Test-Based Teacher Recruitment Work in the Developing World? Experimental Evidence from Ecuador

Konferenzbeitrag

Since 2007, the Ecuadorian government has required teacher candidates to pass national skill and content knowledge tests before they are allowed to participate in merit-based selection competitions for tenured positions at public schools in an attempt to raise teacher quality. We evaluate the impact of this policy using linked administrative teacher information to data from a unique experimental study where almost 15,000 kindergarten children were randomly assigned to their teachers in the 2012-2013 school year in Ecuador. We find positive and significant effects of test-screened tenured teachers of at least a 0.105 standard deviation for language and a 0.085 standard deviation for math, which persist even after controlling for teacher education, experience, cognitive ability, personality traits and classroom practices.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2021: Climate Economics

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Analysis of Education ; Education and Economic Development ; Education: Government Policy ; Public Sector Labor Markets
• Subject: teacher quality ; education policy evaluation ; Latin America

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Araujo P., María Daniela ; Heineck, Guido ; Cruz-Aguayo, Yyannú
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
• (where): Kiel, Hamburg
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/242448
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET