Association between measures of union strength and the levels of/gaps in allocation of teachers with educational background in the subject taught

                               Independent variable: quintiles, reference: first (lowest) quintile (states where unions are the least strong)
High poverty Average Average minus high poverty
M4 R4 M8 R8 M4 R4 M8 R8 M4 R4 M8 R8
                 Education: collective bargaining coverage rate
Second quintile 0.013 0.07 0.019 0.046 0.008 0.057 0.031 0.036 -0.005 -0.012 0.013 -0.009
(0.025) (0.054) (0.049) (0.045) (0.023) (0.049) (0.043) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Third quintile -0.005 0.069 0.047 0.065 -0.004 0.037 0.084* 0.066* 0.002 -0.032* 0.037 0.001
(0.025) (0.054) (0.049) (0.045) (0.023) (0.049) (0.043) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Fourth quintile 0.033 0.101* -0.046 0.026 0.042* 0.095* 0.029 0.033 0.009 -0.006 0.075** 0.006
(0.025) (0.054) (0.049) (0.045) (0.023) (0.049) (0.043) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Fifth quintile 0.067** 0.105* 0.049 0.081* 0.043* 0.088* 0.082* 0.093** -0.025* -0.017 0.034 0.012
(0.025) (0.054) (0.049) (0.045) (0.023) (0.049) (0.043) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Constant 0.134*** 0.381*** 0.773*** 0.788*** 0.141*** 0.383*** 0.780*** 0.805*** 0.007 0.002 0.007 0.017
Observations 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51
R-squared 0.185 0.099 0.094 0.079 0.138 0.099 0.11 0.143 0.141 0.076 0.138 0.019
Education: union strength
Second quintile -0.003 0.073 0.066 0.073 0.006 0.066 0.114*** 0.072* 0.009 -0.007 0.048 -0.001
(0.026) (0.054) (0.050) (0.044) (0.024) (0.050) (0.039) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Third quintile 0.006 0.055 0.064 0.117** 0.019 0.044 0.137*** 0.094** 0.013 -0.011 0.073** -0.023
(0.026) (0.054) (0.050) (0.044) (0.024) (0.050) (0.039) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Fourth quintile 0.065** 0.021 0.089* 0.078* 0.054** 0.027 0.135*** 0.072* -0.011 0.006 0.046 -0.007
(0.026) (0.054) (0.050) (0.044) (0.024) (0.050) (0.039) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Fifth quintile 0.022 0.081 0.069 0.05 0.013 0.071 0.097** 0.064* -0.009 -0.01 0.028 0.014
(0.026) (0.054) (0.050) (0.044) (0.024) (0.050) (0.039) (0.036) (0.013) (0.018) (0.030) (0.023)
Constant 0.137*** 0.404*** 0.730*** 0.768*** 0.140*** 0.396*** 0.730*** 0.791*** 0.003 -0.007 0 0.023
Observations 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51
R-squared 0.166 0.065 0.075 0.144 0.12 0.056 0.272 0.147 0.1 0.027 0.125 0.055
                           Independent variable: Continuous
High poverty Average Average minus high poverty
M4 R4 M8 R8 M4 R4 M8 R8 M4 R4 M8 R8
Education: collective bargaining coverage rate
CBC 0.084** 0.141* 0.044 0.083 0.068* 0.125* 0.130** 0.105* -0.016 -0.016 0.086* 0.022
(0.039) (0.078) (0.074) (0.067) (0.035) (0.072) (0.062) (0.054) (0.020) (0.026) (0.044) (0.033)
Constant 0.098*** 0.353*** 0.756*** 0.774*** 0.112*** 0.352*** 0.736*** 0.778*** 0.014 0.000 -0.020 0.004
Observations 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51
R-squared 0.088 0.063 0.007 0.031 0.073 0.058 0.081 0.073 0.013 0.008 0.072 0.009
                           Education: union strength
Fordham ranking (+) 0.001** 0.001 0.002 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.002** 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.000
(0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.000) (0.000) (0.001) (0.000)
Constant 0.123*** 0.424*** 0.747*** 0.810*** 0.137*** 0.417*** 0.771*** 0.822*** 0.014 -0.007 0.024 0.012
Observations 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51
R-squared 0.089 0.013 0.039 0.012 0.049 0.01 0.093 0.033 0.042 0.005 0.013 0.006

*Standard errors in parentheses. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1
**NAEP 2011 estimates

Note: High-poverty schools are those in which more than 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. M=math, R=reading, 4=4th grade, 8=8th grade.

Source: Data on teacher education are from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress; union strength rankings are from the Fordham Institute (Winkler, Scull, and Zeehandelaar 2012) and collective bargaining data are from EPI's analysis of Current Population Survey data

View the underlying data on epi.org.