Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: Recommendations for Principals

Abstract

Principals play major roles to ensure both teacher and teaching quality in classrooms. Understanding essential research findings on both teacher and teaching quality and their relation to student learning can help principals significantly improve student achievement.Improving teacher and teaching quality has become the "third wave" of education reform (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 1998, 2). Increasingly, research confirms that capable teachers are the essential link between public aspirations for high-quality schooling and student achievement. Although 49 states now have statewide academic standards with highstakes assessments to ensure that all students have opportunities to achieve, teacher and teaching quality issues are becoming related policy challenges from the statehouse to the schoolhouse.Two broad areas define teacher quality: teacher preparation/qualifications and teaching practices. Using the terms teacher quality and teaching quality separately, however, permits clearer discussion and purposeful action. Teacher quality concerns the inputs that teachers bring to the school, including their demographics, aptitude, professional preparation, college majors, SAT and teacher examination scores, teacher licensure and certification, and prior professional work experiences. Teaching quality refers to what teachers do to promote student learning inside the classroom. Teaching quality includes creating a positive learning climate, selecting appropriate instructional goals and assessments, using the curriculum effectively, and employing varied instructional behaviors that help all students learn at higher levels. Research Links Teacher Quality to Student AchievementFor years educators debated the variables influencing student achievement. Early research suggested that school climate has little effect on achievement independent of family and societal background (Coleman et al. 1966). . Current research shows that student demographics are not the primary determinant of student achievement. Instead, a large body of inquiry confirms that what teachers know is the most important factor influencing what students learn. In a 50-state survey, Darling-Hammond (2000) found that student demographics (poverty, minority status, language background) are strongly related to student outcomes in reading and math at the state level. In predicting individual achievement levels, however, demographics appear less influential than teacher quality variables, namely, holding full certification and a major degree in the field. Similarly, teacher preparation is a stronger correlate of student achievement than class sizes, overall spending, or teacher salaries and accounts for 40% to 60% of the total variance in achievement after taking students' demographics into account (DarlingHammond 2000). This study suggests that states' policies on teacher quality may make important differences in student achievement.The 50-state survey found the following factors to be related to teacher quality and increased student achievement:• Verbal ability • C...

Quality Teaching: The Perspectives of the Jordanian Inclusive Primary School Stakeholders and the Ministry of Education

“…A quality learning environment was a major concern of the interviewed school stakeholders in the facilitation of quality teaching and learning. These findings are supported by the previous literature by (Ainscow, 1991;Clark, Dyson, & Millward, 1995;Fraser, 1994Fraser, , 2002Kaplan & Owings, 2001;Killen, 2005;Lane & Walberg, 1987;Reynolds et al, 2003;Teddlie, Kirby, & Strinfield, 1989;Walker & Murphy, 1986) that argue that the teaching and learning environment, whether at the classroom level or at the whole school level, plays an important role in quality teaching and learning. The Jordanian school stakeholders mentioned social support as a fundamental element in the teaching and learning process.…”

“…In a quality learning environment that has regard for significance, the learning activities should be designed to interest and motivate males and females in a wide choice of potential career opportunities beyond the school context, and motivate students to recognize and enhance positive social developments in Jordan, to identify inequities that still remain, and to develop possible solutions (Ministry of Education, 2006a). These findings are consistent with the research by Biggs (1991); Borich (1999Borich ( , 2000; Bruner (1960); Christie (1985); Connell (1993); Darling-Hammond (1997); Dewey (1916); Newmann & Associates (1996); Glasser (1986); Kaplan & Owings (2001); Killen (2005); Meier (1995) that argue that a quality teaching process involves successful knowledge-gaining and the implementation of knowledge into the real life.…”

“…Kaplan and Owings (2001) distinguish between teacher quality (the professional characteristics that a teacher brings to the classroom) and teaching quality (the teaching and learning process involving the students, teachers and learning environment). The Jordanian stakeholders seemed able to articulate the first better than the second, while the MOE's framework placed most emphasis (in fact, almost total emphasis) on the latter.…”

Using the Classroom Practice Diagnostic Framework (CPDF) to Investigate Teaching Difficulties of a Physics Topic

“…Childs and McNicholl (2007) indicate that the teacher who lacks content knowledge resorts to constrained pedagogy and this was the case for Mr. Mulalo. Therefore, it can be concluded that the instructional strategies the teacher used did not promote comprehension of the abstract concepts which is a teaching difficulty because, according to Kaplan and Owings (2001), instructional strategies are also an important factor in student achievement.…”

“…The teacher's knowledge which comprised content, context and students' prior knowledge revealed that it had deficiencies either in the knowledge itself or in the use of the knowledge during teaching. It is interesting to note that in terms of the description of Kaplan and Owings (2001) of teacher quality, Mr. Mulalo is a quality teacher because he is qualified and brought evidence of a preparation in the classroom. So, it cannot be surprising that Mr. Mulalo considered himself as such and expected the performance of students to be reciprocal and this was due to his perception that the topic was difficult to teach.…”