Teacher Effectiveness:What do we know?

Teachers matter. Improving teacher quality is the single

most effective way to improve student

outcomes.

Teacher Quality

What is it? How is it defined under NCLB?

How does teacher quality influence student learning?

Knowing what you know about the influence of teacher quality on student learning, how does this impact your theory of action?

There are much larger differences among our teachers

than we ever knew. Those differences matter a great

deal in student learning.

Source: Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006). Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance on the Job. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

10 Point Average Difference Between Top and Bottom Teachers

Comparing the Average Student in the Classrooms of Bottom Quartile and Top

Quartile Teachers

-6

-4

-2

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2

4

6

Pe

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nti

le P

oin

ts G

ain

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Bottom QuartileTop Quartile

Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006). Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance on the Job. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

10

Students in Dallas Gain More in Math with Effective Teachers: One Year Growth

From 3rd-4th Grade

Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.

LOW ACHIEVING STUDENTS IN TN GAIN MORE WITH EFFECTIVE TEACHERS: One Year Growth

14

53

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

low high

Sanders and Rivers, Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Academic Achievement, 1998.

Cumulative Teacher Effects On Students’ Math Scores in Dallas (Grades 3-5)

Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.

Beginning Grade 3Percentile Rank= 55

Beginning Grade 3Percentile Rank= 57

The impact of effective teachers overwhelms almost every

other “intervention,” including class size reduction

Good teachers are not fairly distributed

More Classes in High-Poverty Secondary Schools Taught by Out-of-Field* Teachers

High- Poverty

Low-poverty

Note: High Poverty school-75% or more of the students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch. Low-poverty school -15% or fewer of the students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch.

National

*Teachers with neither certification nor major. Data for secondary-level core academic classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, English) across USA.Source: Analysis of 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey data by Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania 2007.

Math Classes at High-Poverty and High- Minority Schools More Likely to be Taught

by Out of Field* Teachers

Note: High Poverty school-75% or more of the students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch. Low-poverty school -15% or fewer of the students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch. High minority school-75% or more of the students are Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander. Low-minority school -10% or fewer of the students are non-White students.

*Teachers with neither certification nor major. Data for secondary-level core academic classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, English) across USA.Source: Analysis of 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey data by Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania 2007.

Students at High-Minority Schools More Likely to Be Taught By Novice* Teachers

*Novice teachers are those with three years or fewer experience.Source: Analysis of 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey data by Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania 2007.

Note: High minority school-75% or more of the students are Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander. Low-minority school -10% or fewer of the students are non-White students.

1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.

Tennessee: High poverty/high minority schools have fewer of the “most effective” teachers and more

“least effective” teachers

Source: Tennessee Department of Education 2007. “Tennessee’s Most Effective Teachers: Are they assigned to the schools that need them most?” http://tennessee.gov/education/nclb/doc/TeacherEffectiveness2007_03.pdf

Note: High Poverty/High minority means at least 75% qualify for FRPL and at least 75% are minority.

Low-Achieving Students are More Likely to be Assigned to Ineffective Teachers than Effective Teachers

Source: Sitha Babu and Robert Mendro, Teacher Accountability: HLM-Based Teacher Effectiveness Indices in the Investigation of Teacher Effects on Student Achievement in a State Assessment Program, AERA Annual Meeting, 2003.

We don’t know nearly enough about the characteristics of effective teachers . . . and

even less about their practices.

In last few years, volume of studies has grown rather dramatically. And we are

beginning to learn some of the basics.

What are we learning?

What Seems to Matter

Experience, but only for first year or two;

Content knowledge, at least in math and science;

Teachers’ own test performance.

What Doesn’t Seem to Matter

Traditional vs. Alternate Certification;

Masters Degrees; Experience beyond the

first several years.

But there is still a lot more digging to do, if only to

understand what seem to be exceptions…

For example, while novices usually aren’t as good as teachers with at least

3 years experience….

Studies in Louisiana show that some colleges produce teachers who are more effective in year one, than veteran teachers in same district;

Recent study in North Carolina found Teach For America Corps Members who taught in secondary schools as effective as veteran teachers in those same schools.

And within any “type” of teacher, there is a wide range

of effectiveness.

Source: Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006). Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance on the Job. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

Similar Effectiveness, Regardless of Certification

Some nuances…

Traditional a little better with younger children, especially in reading;

Alternates a little better with older children, especially in math;

Most differences in lower grades wash out by year 3.

Effectiveness More Important than Certification

“The difference between the 7575thth percentile percentile

teacher and the 5050thth percentile percentile teacher for all three groups of teachers was roughly five five times as large as the difference between

the average certified teacher and the average uncertified teacher.”

Three groups = traditionally certified, alternatively certified, and uncertified

Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006). Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance on the Job. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

The Combined Impact of Teacher and School on Achievement After Two Years

Average Teacher in an Average School

Ineffective Teacher in an Ineffective School

Most Effective Teacher in Most Effective School

50th percentile

3rd percentile

96th percentile

- Rick DuFour