Teacher Preferences and the Level and Distribution of Scholastic Achievement

Abstract

Studies of educational production typically have assumed inputs to be exogenous and that pupils receive equal amounts of teacher time within the classroom. Here, an economic analysis is made of the effects of teachers on educational achievement under conditions where the teacher resources are distributed within the classroom according to a deterministic objective function. The maximization of achievement and the minimization of the variance in achievement are included as possible teacher objectives. The production function is assumed to be Cobb-Douglas. The results indicate the elasticities on teacher characteristics are small in size. Teachers strongly preferred maximization of average achievement to minimization of variance in achievement in the class.

Notes

1. Ritzen and Winkler are the senior investigators in this research. Preparation of this paper was supported by the National Institute of Education under Grant NE-G-OO-3-0128 and the Program in International Education Finance at the University of California, Berkeley. It was financed by a 211d Grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.