Project Title
Do Teachers' Salaries Affect SAT Scores?
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Dr. Brooke Conaway
Abstract
The U.S. funds elementary and secondary school systems through state, local, and federal taxes to guarantee all children have access to education. Most children in the U.S. attend public schools, where about 60% of school expenditures go to teachers’ salaries. The SAT is an important factor for college admissions and certain scholarship and grant qualifications. As more high school students go on to attend college, it is important to understand whether teachers’ salaries are linked with student success on college entrance exams. I use public high school level data and OLS regression analysis to examine whether teachers’ average salaries affect average SAT scores for Georgia students. My key variable, average teacher salaries, was insignificant across every regression. This implies that teachers’ salaries do not affect SAT scores when controlling for other relevant factors, such as income and school and year fixed effects.
Do Teachers' Salaries Affect SAT Scores?
The U.S. funds elementary and secondary school systems through state, local, and federal taxes to guarantee all children have access to education. Most children in the U.S. attend public schools, where about 60% of school expenditures go to teachers’ salaries. The SAT is an important factor for college admissions and certain scholarship and grant qualifications. As more high school students go on to attend college, it is important to understand whether teachers’ salaries are linked with student success on college entrance exams. I use public high school level data and OLS regression analysis to examine whether teachers’ average salaries affect average SAT scores for Georgia students. My key variable, average teacher salaries, was insignificant across every regression. This implies that teachers’ salaries do not affect SAT scores when controlling for other relevant factors, such as income and school and year fixed effects.