The Impacts of Performance Pay on Teacher Effectiveness and Retention

Abstract

Teacher performance pay is increasingly common in the United States., We assess the “incentive effects” of performance pay—the change in behavior, of teachers present before and after a reform—with a focus on whether male, and female teachers respond differently. Evaluating three performance pay, programs in North Carolina, we find clear evidence of a gender difference:, while male teachers’ value-added remains flat before and after the, introduction of performance pay, the value-added of female teachers declines., We also document suggestive evidence of a gender difference in retention,, with men more likely to remain in schools with performance pay.