Do Disadvantaged Urban Schools Lose Their Best Teachers? BRIEF 7

A growing body of research confirms the long-held belief of parents, school administrators, and policy makers that teachers are the key component to a good education and that there is substantial variation in teacher quality. This research differs fundamentally from prior work on teachers by focusing directly on differences in student learning outcomes across classrooms rather than differences in teacher experience, salary, education, or other quantifiable characteristics. Moreover, it raises questions about studies that draw inferences about implications for teacher quality based entirely on observable characteristics. When looked at in terms of teacher effectiveness, many of the policies commonly discussed are suspect if not wrong. Current views about teacher policy—and particularly issues of the distribution of teachers across schools—are largely based on evidence about teachers ’ choices, but not on evidence about their effectiveness as seen through achievement differences of students. One strand of literature emphasizes the importance of community type, wealth, and race on selection and mobility of teachers and presents a prima facie case that teacher quality is not distributed equitably. Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, and Wyckoff (2005) show that teacher labor markets tend to be highly localized, which complicates recruitment efforts in both urban centers and rural areas. There is also evidence that teacher exit probabilities are higher for those with better alternative earning opportunities or more education (Dolton and van der Klaauw 1995, 1999) and that teachers tend to prefer schools with higher achieving, higher income students, in addition to higher salaries (Lankford, Loeb, an