Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to explore the main effect that certain demographic, professional and labor characteristics related to teachers can have on students’ academic performance. We focus our attention on the scores achieved by students in a specific test that is compulsory in Spain: the university admission test. The empirical analysis is based on data from a survey of Spanish educational organizations. Our final sample consisted of 105 secondary schools. The total number of teachers and students included in this study is 4,385 and 13,599, respectively. A hierarchical regression model is specified to test the relationships between the main variables of interest considered in the study. Our results consistently reveal that there is a positive relationship between the scores achieved by students in the university admission test and the following characteristics of a teacher: gender, specialization, continuous training, type of contract and motivation. On the contrary, the effect of teacher’s age is not significant. These findings may be of use to theory and practice in understanding and advancing different determinants on students’ academic outcomes.

Keywords:

Teacher characteristics, academic performance, Spanish educational organizations, secondary schools.