A large body of studies exists that examines the relationship between student achievement gains and the characteristics of teachers. To help policymakers and researchers use and build on this body of studies, this article reviews the studies systematically and synthesizes their results with deliberate consideration of each study’s qualities. Determinate relationships are described for four categories of teacher characteristics: college ratings, test scores, degrees and coursework, and certification status. The review details the implications of these relationships in light of study limitations and proposes directions for future research.

Teacher Characteristics and Student Achievement Gains: A Review:

In an effort to improve the quality of schools, governments around the world have dramatically increased the resources devoted to them. By concentrating on inputs and ignoring the incentives within schools, the resources have yielded little in the way of general improvement in student achievement. This paper provides a review of the United States and international evidence on the effectiveness of such input policies. It then contrasts the impact of resources with that of variations in teacher quality that are not systematically related to school resources. Finally, alternative performance incentive policies are described.

The Failure of Input-based Schooling Policies

The 1st grade classroom in which I found myself five years ago had some two dozen ancient and tattered books, an incomplete curriculum, and a collection of outdated content standards. But I later came to thrive in my profession because of the preparation I received in my credential program: the practice I received developing appropriate curriculum; exposure to a wide range of learning theories; training in working with nonEnglish-speaking students and children labeled “at risk.” It is the big things, though, that continue to sustain me as a professional and give me the courage to remain and grow: my understanding of the importance of asking questions about my own practice, the collegial relationships, and my belief in my responsibility to my students and to the institution of public education. —A California teacher from a strong urban teacher education program W hat keeps some people in teaching while others give up? What can we do to increase the holding power of the teaching profession and to create a stable, expert teaching force in all kinds of districts? Some of the answers to these questions are predictable; others are surprising. The way schools hire and the way they use their resources can make a major difference. Keeping good teachers should be one of the most important agenda items for any school leader. Substantial research evidence suggests that well-prepared, capable teachers have the largest impact on student learning (see Darling-Hammond, 2000b; Wilson, Floden, & FerriniMundy, 2001). Effective teachers constitute a valuable human resource for schools—one that needs to be treasured and supported.

Keeping good teachers: why it matters, what leaders can do

In an effort to improve the quality of schools, governments around the world have dramatically increased the resources devoted to them. By concentrating on inputs and ignoring the incentives within schools, the resources have yielded little in the way of general improvement in student achievement. This paper provides a review of the US and international evidence on the effectiveness of such input policies. It then contrasts the impact of resources with that of variations in teacher quality that are not systematically related to school resources. Finally, alternative performance incentive policies are described.

/pdf/the-failure-of-input-based-schooling-policies-2ui106vp73.pdf

The failure of input-based schooling policies

The Secretary’s report accurately claims that “researchers have found that some teachers are much more effective than others” (2002, p. 7). Studies using valueadded student achievement data have found that student achievement gains are much more influenced by a student’s assigned teacher than other factors like class size and class composition (Sanders & Horn, 1994; Sanders & Rivers, 1996; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). A recent analysis by Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2001) attributes at least 7% of the total variance in test-score gains to differences in teachers. The Secretary’s report asserts, however, that “there is little evidence that education school course work leads to improved student achievement” (2002, p. 19), stating that the evidence about “knowledge of pedagogy, degrees in education or amount of time spent practice teaching”—which are the “requirements that make up the bulk of current teacher certification regimes”—is surrounded by a “great deal of contention” (p. 8). To support the assertion that “virtually all” of the studies linking certification and improved student outcomes are “not scientifically rigorous,” the Secretary’s report cites a report by Kate Walsh (2001), written for the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation,2 which asserts that there is “no credible research that supports the use of teacher certification as a regulatory barrier to teaching” (p. 5). Unfortunately, Walsh’s report excludes much of the evidence on the topic, misrepresents many research findings, makes inaccurate claims about studies that have examined the consequences In July 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Education issued the Secretary’s Annual Report on Teacher Quality (U.S. Department of Education) as required by the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act. In this report titled Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge the Secretary essentially argues for the dismantling of teacher education systems and the redefinition of teacher qualifications to include little preparation for teaching. Stating that current teacher certification systems are “broken,” and that they impose “burdensome requirements” for education coursework that make up “the bulk of current teacher certification regimes” (p. 8), the report argues that certification should be redefined to emphasize higher standards for verbal ability and content knowledge and to de-emphasize requirements for education coursework—making student teaching and attendance at schools of education optional and eliminating “other bureaucratic hurdles” (p. 19). These conclusions rest on the following arguments, each of which is addressed in turn in this article: • Teachers matter for student achievement, but teacher education and certification are not related to teacher effectiveness. • Verbal ability and subject matter knowledge are the most important components of teacher effectiveness. • Teachers who have completed teacher education programs are academically weak and are underprepared for their jobs. • Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have academically stronger recruits who are highly effective and have high rates of teacher retention. The report suggests that its recommendations are based on “solid research.” However, none of these arguments has strong empirical support, and the report does not cite the scientific literature that addresses them: Only one reference among the report’s 44 footnotes is to a study that was eventually published in a peer-reviewed journal, and the study’s findings are misrepresented in the report. Most references are to newspaper articles or to documents published by advocacy organizations, some of these known for their vigorous opposition to teacher education.1 Although an accurate review of rigorous research on teacher qualifications and their relationship to student achievement could provide useful guidance to state policymakers, such a review is not to be found in this report. Instead, the Secretary’s report fails to meet the Department of Education’s own standards for the use of scientifically based research to formulate policy. The report cites almost no research that would meet scientific standards, misrepresents findings from a large number of sources, and includes many unsupported statements about teacher education and teacher certification. Whatever the contributions of this report to the debates on teacher quality, an accurate rendering of the research base on these important topics is not one of them. In this article we discuss the research base that treats the arguments made in support of the report’s recommendations and suggest that different conclusions would derive from a well-grounded rendering of the evidence. Research News and Comment

/pdf/defining-highly-qualified-teachers-what-does-scientifically-2z4u24r62s.pdf

Defining “Highly Qualified Teachers”: What Does “Scientifically-Based Research” Actually Tell Us?

http://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Hanushek%2BLuque%202003%20EEduR%2022%285%29.pdf

Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World.

While the importance of good teaching may be intuitively obvious, only over the past decade has education research begun to quantify the high economic stakes around teacher quality In a world where the goals of national education systems are being transformed, from a focus on the transmission of facts and memorization to a focus on student competenciesfor critical thinking, problem solving and lifelong learningthe demands on teachers are more complex than ever Governments across the world have put teacher quality and teacher performance under increasing scrutiny The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is no exception to these trends; indeed, in some key areas of teacher policy, the region is at the vanguard of global reform experience The study aims to benchmark the current performance of LACs teachers and identify key issues It shares emerging evidence on important reforms of teacher policy being implemented in Lac countries The study also analyzes the political room for maneuver for further reform in Lac They focus on teachers in basic education (preschools, primary and secondary education) because the quantitative and qualitative challenges of producing effective teachers at these levels differ in key ways from university-level education, which has been addressed in other recent World Bank publications

/pdf/great-teachers-how-to-raise-student-learning-in-latin-4q5tk5o2fk.pdf

Great teachers : how to raise student learning in Latin America and the Caribbean

Teach For America: An Evaluation of Teacher Differences and Student Outcomes In Houston, Texas

Education is improving in Brazil. The average years of education has almost doubled over the last 20 years, as has the proportion of adults who have completed secondary school. Brazil's high school students have improved consistently in math and language performance over the last decade. These gains stem from the federal government's priority attention to education through both reforms and resources over the past 15 years. The progress laid out in this book is impressive and praiseworthy, but Brazil still trails its competitors in several of the ways that matter most. Student learning, while improving, still lags far behind wealthier nations. Many secondary schools lose the majority of their students well before graduation. Teachers are drawn from among the lowest achievers and have few performance incentives, and it shows in how class time is used. This important book explores not only the basis for Brazil's progress, but also what it must do to bridge the remaining quality gap to a first-rate education for its children. It provides detailed recommendations for strengthening the performance of teachers, supporting children's early development, and reforming secondary education. In Brazil's highly decentralized basic education system, each level of government has an integral role to play.

Achieving World-Class Education in Brazil: The Next Agenda

Attention to the quality of human capital in different countries naturally leads to concerns about how school policies relate to student performance The data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provide a way of comparing performance in different schooling systems The results of analyses of educational production functions within a range of developed and developing countries show general problems with the efficiency of resource usage similar to those found previously in the United States These effects do not appear to be dictated by variations related to income level of the country or level of resources in the schools Neither do they appear to be determined by school policies that involve compensatory application of resources The conventional view that school resources are relatively more important in poor countries also fails to be supported

Javier Luque

Papers

Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World.

Great teachers : how to raise student learning in Latin America and the Caribbean

Teach For America: An Evaluation of Teacher Differences and Student Outcomes In Houston, Texas

Achieving World-Class Education in Brazil: The Next Agenda

Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World