| This dissertation examines the effects of teacher salary on teacher recruitment, teacher retention, and student outcomes, with the aim of providing evidence that placing significant teacher salary increases on the educational policy agenda is an important step towards true K--12 education reform. While there has been a plethora of studies into the effects of money on education stemming from the 1966 Coleman Report, there has been relatively little research into the effects of teacher salary. Therefore, this dissertation attempts to further the research in this area.; Chapters 1 through 4 provide a literature review of production function research, the historical and international perspectives on teacher salaries, and how salaries affect teacher recruitment and retention. Chapter 5 explores two important case studies of the positive effects of a substantial teacher salary increase at the state and district levels. Chapter 6 provides quantitative evidence, using regression analysis of state-level data, that teacher salaries affect student achievement, high school dropout rates, and teacher turnover. Basically, states with large gaps between teachers and similarly-educated professionals at the bachelor's level have higher dropout rates, higher teacher turnover, and lower 8th grade math scores, controlling on typical family background characteristics. In addition, average salaries paid to teachers with a Master's degree affect both 4th and 8th grade math scores. The higher the average salary, the higher the math scores, also controlling on family background characteristics. All of these results corroborate the evidence presented in the previous chapters that a significant teacher salary increase leads to a high-caliber, more stable teaching force that positively impacts student performance. |
