Are Homegrown Teachers Who Graduate From Urban Districts More Racially Diverse, More Effective, and Less Likely to Exit Teaching?

Abstract

Teachers’ preference to remain close to where they grew up is recognized as a defining feature of the teacher labor market. Using a unique data set from a large school district in the southeastern United States, I apply a series of within–school and within–student comparisons to assess the effectiveness of homegrown teachers who returned to teach in their home district. Discrete time survival analysis is then used to examine differences in when early career teachers exit the district. Study results show that homegrown teachers make small but statistically meaningful improvements in student achievement in English language arts. They are also more likely to identify as Black compared with other beginning teachers and less likely to exit the district.