Abstract
Recently, the ratio of substitute teachers has been increasing substantially in Taiwan, indicating that more and more students have more chances to be taught by substitute teachers. However, there does not exist a systematic research evaluating the learning performance of students if they have ever taught by substitute teachers. In view of this, this project takes advantage of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS) data set to empirically evaluate whether the test score differentials between students with formal and substitute teachers are substantial across subjects and grades. The empirical results indicate that the impact of substitute teachers on junior high school students' academic performance is greater than senior high school students, and the effect is usually significantly negative. Moreover, in comparison with junior and senior high school samples, we also find in mathematics and English subjects, the negative impact of substitute teachers on students' academic performance is larger for junior high students. On the contrary, the senior high school students tend to perform badly if they were taught by substitute teachers in Chinese subject. Finally, our findings based on tracking sample indicate that the negative impact of junior high school substitute teachers on language learning, including English and Chinese, would be extended to the stage of senior high school. This paper provides a sound basis for policy-makers in Taiwan's government. First, we suggest the government should focus on the problem of substitute teachers in junior high school education stage. Second, the government should consider the effect of English and mathematics substitute teachers on students' performance as a first priority. Thirdly, when hiring substitute teachers, the government should recruit teachers who have master's degrees. Lastly, by encouraging substitute teachers to take part in course-teaching programs and keeping them from doing some part-time administrative job will be of great benefit to the junior or senior high school students' learning.