STUDENT OUTCOMES BASED ON PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER QUALITY

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the effects of student perception of teachers on long term student outcomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth with nearly 9,000 observations, we construct three multiple linear regression models with dependent variables: income, natural log of income, and highest grade completed regressed against student ratings of their teachers along with several relevant demographic variables. We find that students who rated their teachers highly were more likely to have a higher income later in life. Having a teacher perceived as bad had no statistically significant effect on long term income. Students who rate their teachers highly complete more years of education on average and those who rate their teachers poorly complete less years of education on average. These findings lead us to conclude that the quality of a school’s teachers matters in the long run for a student’s success both academically and financially.