Harvard University economists and LEAP affiliates Raj Chetty and John Friedman and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University recently released a paper entitled “The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood.” Tracking one million students from elementary school to adulthood, the authors find that high “value-added” teachers -- teachers who systematically raise their students' test scores -- improve their students' earnings, reduce teenage pregnancy rates, and increase college attendance rates. The study received widespread attention in the media and public debate, including the following:

1. President Barack Obama cited the study in his 2012 State of the Union Address in his remarks on improving education in the U.S.

2. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited the study in his 2012 State of the City Address

3. Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gain by Annie Lowrey in The New York Times front page, January 6, 2012

4. The Value of Teachers by Nicholas D. Kristof in The New York Times, January 11, 2012

5. New Study Gauges Teachers Impact on Students' Lifetime Earnings interview with Raj Chetty on PBS Newshour, January 6, 2012

6. A Room for Debate forum in The New York Times, January 16, 2012

7. A column by Ray Fisman in Slate Magazine, January 6, 2012

8. A column by William Bennett on CNN, January 11, 2012

9. A column by Michael Winerip in The New York Times, January 15, 2012