Published Online in:
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
April 12, 2021

Andrew J. Hill, Montana State University
Daniel B. Jones, University of Pittsburgh

Teacher performance pay is often introduced with the goal of reducing gaps in test scores across groups, yet little is known about how well they achieve this aim. We ask, “Do test score-based teacher incentives impact the Black–White test score gap?” Using student–teacher matched data and a difference-in-differences approach in which the performance of a teacher’s students before and after the policy is compared, we find that performance pay increases the conditional Black–White gap. The effect is particularly evident when bonuses are large, consistent with a causal response to performance pay.

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Study citation: Hill, A. J., Jones, D. B. (2021). Paying for Whose Performance? Teacher Incentive Pay and the Black–White Test Score Gap. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Prepublished April 12, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737211001421