The impact of teacher characteristics on student performance: An analysis using hierarchical linear modelling
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2009Publication date: 2009
Author(s):
More than a decade after South Africa’s transition from apartheid, the racially delineated picture of education in the country remains. Brahm Fleisch (2008) refers to the South Africa’s education system as consisting effectively of two education systems: the well-performing historically white system, and the weak-performing historically black system. Significant difference in educational quality exist between these two systems. It is widely acknowledged that the role of teachers in the quality of education is vital. This paper makes use of Hierarchical Linear Modeling to investigate which teacher productive characteristics impact first of all on average student performance, and secondly, on the relationship between the socioeconomic status of students and the performance. It is found that teachers who have specialized in the subject which they teach or in the education of that subject at university, as well as teachers with between 26 and 30 years of teaching experience influence student performance positively. No teacher productive characteristics are found to weaken the relationship between students’ socioeconomic status and their performance.
JEL Classification:I21
Keywords:Analysis of education
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Upcoming Seminars
Monday 21 July 202512:00-13:00
Izak Odendaal: Old Mutual Wealth Chief Investment Strategist
Topic: "Diverging fiscal policies and what it means for markets"
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Topic: "Two competing approaches in South African competition policy: merger control and anti-cartel enforcement over the past 30 years"
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27 Jun 2025 Another setback for the GNU, but oil markets breathe a little easierThis week was marked by heightened tensions both domestically and internationally. At home, friction intensified between the two largest parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU), the ANC and the DA, following the firing of one of the DA's deputy ministers. Internationally, the US conducted airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities using...
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