Predicting Teacher Performance With Test Scores and Grade Point Average: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the degree to which teachers’ test scores and their performance in preparation programs as measured by their collegiate grade point average (GPA) predicted their teaching competence. Results from 123 studies that yielded 715 effect sizes were analyzed, and the mediating effects of test and GPA type, criterion type, teaching level, service level, and decade of data collection were considered. It was found that test scores were at best modestly related to teaching competence and that performance in preparation programs was a significantly better predictor of teaching skill. Results revealed that test scores likely do not provide additional information beyond preservice performance to safeguard the public from incompetent teaching.

International Approaches to Teacher Selection and Recruitment

“…And where examinations are employed for teacher appointment, these should ideally be used alongside additional methods of establishing candidates" competence and of judging their suitability or "fit" for the specific needs of the particular school. We agree with D" Agostino and Powers (2008) that those involved in the teacher hiring and selection process ought probably to focus as much or more on candidates" performance during ITP "than on their scores in the tests used for licensure purposes" (p.165).…”

“…Similarly, a meta-analysis by D" Agostino and Powers (2008) found that "tests reveal little about performance" (p.165). The same authors reported that test scores tended to be "less related to teaching performance than students" success levels in the preservice programs the tests were designed to hold accountable", and that "preservice teachers" performance in college, especially during student teaching, predicted performance better than teacher tests" (pp.164-165).…”

“…As Larsen et al (2005) suggest, "there is a strong need for some form of licensure or certification process that clearly defines a minimum standard for the profession" (p.7), especially in contexts in which there exists a mistrust of the rigour and content of teacher preparation programmes (D" Agostino and Powers 2008). To the extent that tests for certification are able to "distinguish bad teachers from better teachers", they can help to "keep the worst teachers from entering the classroom" (Loeb et al 2007: 6), while the use of testing at the screening for ITP stage may potentially deter those more likely to fail from attempting the test or seeking to enter the teaching profession.…”

“…More generally, as D" Agostino and Powers (2008) comment, "assessments … can be an effective mechanism to encourage preservice programs to provide future teachers the opportunity to learn a broad set of skills and an expansive knowledge base" (p.165) through their influence on the curriculum of teacher preparation programmes. On the other hand, some countries seek to achieve similar goals through alternative strategies, such as those relating to the validation and inspection of ITP providers.…”

Preparing Teachers of English Language Learners: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications

“…To address this need, we examined the degree to which state requirements for teacher certification 2 (both mainstream and specialist 3 ) reflect current empirically based theory and practice and how these requirements in turn are related to 4 th grade Hispanic ELL's reading outcomes on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Although certification assessments have long been the measure for accountability of teacher preparation, there is evidence that teachers' grades in preservice teacher preparation programs are more strongly related to their students' success levels than the teacher certification exams that were designed to hold teacher preparation programs accountable (D'Agostino & Powers, 2009). Therefore, we focused explicitly on the content reflected in required coursework as specified by each state.…”