Rewarding Pedagogical Excellence: Evidence from a Voluntary Award Programme

Description

This project analyses the effects on teacher retention and between-school mobility of a program that rewards excellence in pedagogical practice in Chile. Teachers apply voluntarily for the program and those who succeed on a set of assessments receive a 6 percent annual wage increase for up to 10 years and an award that publicly recognizes the quality of their teaching. We use a regression discontinuity design to identify the causal effect of the incentive package. Our estimates indicate that the program does not alter transitions out of teaching. However, we observe an increase in awardees' mobility within the school system.