The effect of teacher's concurrent administrative position on students' academic outcomes: Evidence and mechanisms

Abstract

Teacher's holding an administrative position (AP) while teaching is common in schools in China. Does it harm the students' academic performance? This paper uses a representative survey of middle school students in China to answer the question. Using a causal identification based on schools with random class assignments, we find that the effect of a headteacher's holding an AP is negative and significant. In contrast, the effect of a subject teacher's holding an AP may be positive. The results are robust to various robustness checks. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative effect is driven by 9th grade students and is larger for boys, rural students, those whose parents migrate out to work, and those whose mothers have lower levels of education. Mechanism analysis suggests that head teachers with an AP devote lower levels of teaching effort, measured by time spent on grading and frequency of adopting supplementary teaching tools.