TY - JOUR T1 - The Role of Families in Student Sorting to Teachers JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour DO - 10.3368/jhr.55.3.0717-8953R2 SP - 0717-8953R2 AU - Javaeria A. Qureshi AU - Ben Ost Y1 - 2018/10/16 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2018/10/11/jhr.55.3.0717-8953R2.abstract N2 - This study leverages sibling identifiers merged to administrative school records to analyze the assignment of elementary students to teachers. We document significant sorting of students to their older sibling’s teachers and this effect is stronger for relatively advantaged students. By analyzing the circumstances in which students are disproportionately assigned to their older sibling’s teacher, we provide indirect evidence regarding parental preferences for various teacher characteristics. We find stronger sorting to the older sibling’s teacher when that teacher is relatively experienced or has higher value-added. The sorting towards higher value-added teachers is significantly stronger for relatively advantaged students. ER -