Learn more about the EdExchange  

Search and Filter

Submit a paper

Not yet affiliated? Have a paper you wish to post? Check out the EdWorkingPapers' scope and FAQs, and then submit your manuscript here.

Preferences, Inequities, and Incentives in the Substitute Teacher Labor Market

Matthew A. Kraft,
Megan Conklin,
Grace Falken

We examine the labor supply decisions of substitute teachers – a large, on-demand market with broad shortages and inequitable supply. In 2018, Chicago Public Schools implemented a targeted bonus program designed to reduce unfilled teacher absences in largely segregated Black schools with historically low substitute coverage rates. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that incentive pay substantially improved coverage equity and raised student achievement. Changes in labor supply were concentrated among Black and Hispanic substitutes from nearby neighborhoods with experience in incentive schools. Wage elasticity estimates suggest incentives would need to be 50% of daily wages to close fill-rate gaps.

Keywords
Substitute Teachers, Teacher Shortages, Incentive Pay, Student Achievement, Inequity
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Staffing, Finance, and Operations
Tags
Teacher hiring and retention,
Equity
Download 11/2022
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/tb06-3m94
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Kraft, Matthew A., Megan Conklin, and Grace Falken. (). Preferences, Inequities, and Incentives in the Substitute Teacher Labor Market. (EdWorkingPaper: -680). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/tb06-3m94

Machine-readable bibliographic record: RIS, BibTeX