Seth Gershenson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4264068 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Seth Gershenson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Seth |
| FAMILY NAME | Gershenson |
| SIGNATURE | GERSHENSON S |
| AFFILIATIONS | American University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8780-0569 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 74 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Disparate Pathways: Understanding Racial Disparities in Teaching
Longstanding evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following Maryland public high-school students over 14 years reveals that early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). Data projections indicate …
Localized Teacher Recruitment Through “Grow‐Your‐Own”: Impacts of the High School Teacher Academy of Maryland Program
Recruiting teachers via “grow‐your‐own” (GYO) programs is a popular, yet rarely evaluated, strategy for addressing local workforce shortages and ensuring that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We provide novel evidence on the impacts of one such GYO program by exploiting the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program across public …
How Teachers Learn Racial Competency: The Role of Peers and Contexts
JUE Insight: From referrals to suspensions: New evidence on racial disparities in exclusionary discipline
Who refers whom? The effects of teacher characteristics on disciplinary office referrals
The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers
Leveraging the Tennessee STAR class size experiment, we show that Black students randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in grades K–3 are 9 percentage points (13 percent) more likely to graduate from high school and 6 percentage points (19 percent) more likely to enroll in college compared to their Black schoolmates who are not. Black teachers have no significant long-run effects on White students. Postsecondary education results are dri…
The Intergenerational Transmission of Teaching
Parental influences, particularly parents’ occupations, may influence individuals’ entry into the teaching profession. This mechanism may contribute to the relatively static demographic composition of the teaching force over time. We assess the role of parental influences on occupational choice by testing whether the children of teachers are disproportionately likely to become teachers themselves and whether the intergenerational transmission of …
Conceptualizing grade inflation
Teacher Expectations Matter
We show that tenth-grade teacher expectations affect students' likelihood of college completion. Our approach leverages a unique feature of a nationally representative dataset: two teachers provided their educational expectations for each student. Identification exploits teacher disagreements about the same student, an idea we formalize using a measurement error model. We estimate an elasticity of college completion with respect to teachers' expe…
When Paywall Goes Awol: The Demand for Open-Access Education Research
As universities cut library funding and forego expensive journal subscriptions, many academic organizations and researchers, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), are moving toward open-access publications that are freely downloadable by anyone with a working internet connection. However, the impact of paywalls on the consumption of academic articles is unclear. We provide novel evidence on this question by exploiting a …
The Impact of Demographic Representation on Absences and Suspensions
Representative bureaucracy theory is central to public administration scholarship due to the likely relationship between the demographic composition of the public workforce and both the actual and perceived performance of public organizations. Primary school classrooms provide an ideal context in which to test the predictions of representative bureaucracy theory at the micro (student) level. Specifically, as parents have at least some agency over…
The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers
We examine the long-run impacts of exposure to a Black teacher for both Black and white students. Leveraging data from the Tennessee STAR class-size experiment, we show that Black students randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in grades K-3 are 9 percentage points (13%) more likely to graduate from high school and 6 percentage points (19%) more likely to enroll in college than their same-school, same-race peers. No effect is found for w…
Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools?
Student absences are a potentially important, yet understudied, input in the educational process. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey and rich administrative records from North Carolina, we investigate the relationship between student absences and academic performance. Generally, student absences are associated with modest but statistically significant decreases in academic achievement. The harmful effects of absences …
Police shootings, civic unrest and student achievement: Evidence from Ferguson
We document externalities of the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager and the resultant civic unrest experienced in Ferguson, MO. Difference-in-differences estimates compare Ferguson-area schools to neighboring schools in the greater St. Louis area and find that the unrest led to statistically significant, arguably causal declines in elementary school students’ math and reading achievement. Attendance is one mechanism through which this e…
The Summer Learning of Exceptional Students
The summer activities and summer learning of exceptional students—students who have an individualized education plan or who are English-language learners—are potentially important yet understudied. We analyze nationally representative survey data to fill this gap. Exceptional students are significantly less likely than their mainstream counterparts to participate in organized summer activities and summer day care but are more likely to attend sum…
Re-Conceptualizing Gaps by Socioeconomic Status in Parental Time with Children
Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement
Research on the effectiveness of educational inputs, particularly research on teacher effectiveness, typically overlooks teachers’ potential impact on behavioral outcomes, such as student attendance. Using longitudinal data on teachers and students in North Carolina I estimate teacher effects on primary school student absences in a value-added framework. The analysis yields two main findings: First, teachers have arguably causal, statistically si…
Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations
Performance Standards and Employee Effort: Evidence From Teacher Absences
The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased accountability pressure in U.S. public schools by threatening to impose sanctions on Title‐1 schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in consecutive years. Difference‐in‐difference estimates of the effect of failing AYP in the first year of NCLB on teacher effort in the subsequent year suggest that on average, teacher absences in North Carolina fell by about 10 percent. The prob…
Gender Gaps in High School Students’ Homework Time
Gender differences in human capital investments made outside of the traditional school day suggest that males and females consume, respond to, and form habits relating to education differently. We document robust, statistically significant one-hour weekly gender gaps in secondary students’ non-school study time using time diary data from the 2003–2012 waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and transcript data from the Educational Longitudin…
Do Summer Time-Use Gaps Vary by Socioeconomic Status
Several scholars have suggested that differential rates of summer learning loss contribute to the persistence of achievement gaps between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. To better understand the possible determinants of summer learning loss, a test for summer-specific differences by socioeconomic status (SES) in children’s time spent in activities related to cognitive development and parental time spent interacting with children …
The Impact of Demographic Representation on Absences and Suspensions
Representative bureaucracy theory is central to public administration scholarship due to the likely relationship between the demographic composition of the public workforce and both the actual and perceived performance of public organizations. Primary school classrooms provide an ideal context in which to test the predictions of representative bureaucracy theory at the micro (student) level. Specifically, as parents have at least some agency over…
Do Summer Time-Use Gaps Vary by Socioeconomic Status
Several scholars have suggested that differential rates of summer learning loss contribute to the persistence of achievement gaps between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. To better understand the possible determinants of summer learning loss, a test for summer-specific differences by socioeconomic status (SES) in children’s time spent in activities related to cognitive development and parental time spent interacting with children …
JUE Insight: From referrals to suspensions: New evidence on racial disparities in exclusionary discipline
Re-Conceptualizing Gaps by Socioeconomic Status in Parental Time with Children
Gender Gaps in High School Students’ Homework Time
Gender differences in human capital investments made outside of the traditional school day suggest that males and females consume, respond to, and form habits relating to education differently. We document robust, statistically significant one-hour weekly gender gaps in secondary students’ non-school study time using time diary data from the 2003–2012 waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and transcript data from the Educational Longitudin…
Police shootings, civic unrest and student achievement: Evidence from Ferguson
We document externalities of the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager and the resultant civic unrest experienced in Ferguson, MO. Difference-in-differences estimates compare Ferguson-area schools to neighboring schools in the greater St. Louis area and find that the unrest led to statistically significant, arguably causal declines in elementary school students’ math and reading achievement. Attendance is one mechanism through which this e…
The Intergenerational Transmission of Teaching
Parental influences, particularly parents’ occupations, may influence individuals’ entry into the teaching profession. This mechanism may contribute to the relatively static demographic composition of the teaching force over time. We assess the role of parental influences on occupational choice by testing whether the children of teachers are disproportionately likely to become teachers themselves and whether the intergenerational transmission of …
Performance Standards and Employee Effort: Evidence From Teacher Absences
The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased accountability pressure in U.S. public schools by threatening to impose sanctions on Title‐1 schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in consecutive years. Difference‐in‐difference estimates of the effect of failing AYP in the first year of NCLB on teacher effort in the subsequent year suggest that on average, teacher absences in North Carolina fell by about 10 percent. The prob…
When Paywall Goes Awol: The Demand for Open-Access Education Research
As universities cut library funding and forego expensive journal subscriptions, many academic organizations and researchers, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), are moving toward open-access publications that are freely downloadable by anyone with a working internet connection. However, the impact of paywalls on the consumption of academic articles is unclear. We provide novel evidence on this question by exploiting a …
Do Summer Time-Use Gaps Vary by Socioeconomic Status
Several scholars have suggested that differential rates of summer learning loss contribute to the persistence of achievement gaps between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. To better understand the possible determinants of summer learning loss, a test for summer-specific differences by socioeconomic status (SES) in children’s time spent in activities related to cognitive development and parental time spent interacting with children …
Gender Gaps in High School Students’ Homework Time
Gender differences in human capital investments made outside of the traditional school day suggest that males and females consume, respond to, and form habits relating to education differently. We document robust, statistically significant one-hour weekly gender gaps in secondary students’ non-school study time using time diary data from the 2003–2012 waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and transcript data from the Educational Longitudin…
Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement
Research on the effectiveness of educational inputs, particularly research on teacher effectiveness, typically overlooks teachers’ potential impact on behavioral outcomes, such as student attendance. Using longitudinal data on teachers and students in North Carolina I estimate teacher effects on primary school student absences in a value-added framework. The analysis yields two main findings: First, teachers have arguably causal, statistically si…
Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations
Performance Standards and Employee Effort: Evidence From Teacher Absences
The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased accountability pressure in U.S. public schools by threatening to impose sanctions on Title‐1 schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in consecutive years. Difference‐in‐difference estimates of the effect of failing AYP in the first year of NCLB on teacher effort in the subsequent year suggest that on average, teacher absences in North Carolina fell by about 10 percent. The prob…
Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools?
Student absences are a potentially important, yet understudied, input in the educational process. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey and rich administrative records from North Carolina, we investigate the relationship between student absences and academic performance. Generally, student absences are associated with modest but statistically significant decreases in academic achievement. The harmful effects of absences …
Police shootings, civic unrest and student achievement: Evidence from Ferguson
We document externalities of the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager and the resultant civic unrest experienced in Ferguson, MO. Difference-in-differences estimates compare Ferguson-area schools to neighboring schools in the greater St. Louis area and find that the unrest led to statistically significant, arguably causal declines in elementary school students’ math and reading achievement. Attendance is one mechanism through which this e…
The Summer Learning of Exceptional Students
The summer activities and summer learning of exceptional students—students who have an individualized education plan or who are English-language learners—are potentially important yet understudied. We analyze nationally representative survey data to fill this gap. Exceptional students are significantly less likely than their mainstream counterparts to participate in organized summer activities and summer day care but are more likely to attend sum…
Re-Conceptualizing Gaps by Socioeconomic Status in Parental Time with Children
The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers
We examine the long-run impacts of exposure to a Black teacher for both Black and white students. Leveraging data from the Tennessee STAR class-size experiment, we show that Black students randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in grades K-3 are 9 percentage points (13%) more likely to graduate from high school and 6 percentage points (19%) more likely to enroll in college than their same-school, same-race peers. No effect is found for w…
The Impact of Demographic Representation on Absences and Suspensions
Representative bureaucracy theory is central to public administration scholarship due to the likely relationship between the demographic composition of the public workforce and both the actual and perceived performance of public organizations. Primary school classrooms provide an ideal context in which to test the predictions of representative bureaucracy theory at the micro (student) level. Specifically, as parents have at least some agency over…
Conceptualizing grade inflation
Teacher Expectations Matter
We show that tenth-grade teacher expectations affect students' likelihood of college completion. Our approach leverages a unique feature of a nationally representative dataset: two teachers provided their educational expectations for each student. Identification exploits teacher disagreements about the same student, an idea we formalize using a measurement error model. We estimate an elasticity of college completion with respect to teachers' expe…
When Paywall Goes Awol: The Demand for Open-Access Education Research
As universities cut library funding and forego expensive journal subscriptions, many academic organizations and researchers, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), are moving toward open-access publications that are freely downloadable by anyone with a working internet connection. However, the impact of paywalls on the consumption of academic articles is unclear. We provide novel evidence on this question by exploiting a …
The Intergenerational Transmission of Teaching
Parental influences, particularly parents’ occupations, may influence individuals’ entry into the teaching profession. This mechanism may contribute to the relatively static demographic composition of the teaching force over time. We assess the role of parental influences on occupational choice by testing whether the children of teachers are disproportionately likely to become teachers themselves and whether the intergenerational transmission of …
The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers
Leveraging the Tennessee STAR class size experiment, we show that Black students randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in grades K–3 are 9 percentage points (13 percent) more likely to graduate from high school and 6 percentage points (19 percent) more likely to enroll in college compared to their Black schoolmates who are not. Black teachers have no significant long-run effects on White students. Postsecondary education results are dri…
Who refers whom? The effects of teacher characteristics on disciplinary office referrals
JUE Insight: From referrals to suspensions: New evidence on racial disparities in exclusionary discipline
How Teachers Learn Racial Competency: The Role of Peers and Contexts
Disparate Pathways: Understanding Racial Disparities in Teaching
Longstanding evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following Maryland public high-school students over 14 years reveals that early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). Data projections indicate …
Localized Teacher Recruitment Through “Grow‐Your‐Own”: Impacts of the High School Teacher Academy of Maryland Program
Recruiting teachers via “grow‐your‐own” (GYO) programs is a popular, yet rarely evaluated, strategy for addressing local workforce shortages and ensuring that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We provide novel evidence on the impacts of one such GYO program by exploiting the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program across public …
Psychology (17 works) · School Choice and Performance (16 works) · Mathematics education (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Economics (9 works) · Demography (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Academic achievement (6 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Demography (5 works)