Effective Teachers and Teaching - What Principals Need To Know to Impact Student Achievement
Since quality teaching may bethe single most important school-related factor in student achievement, identifying and improving teacher effectiveness to raise overall student achievement should be a priority of school leaders. School Principals across the country, while interviewing prospective teachers, are searching for that elusive quality that separates ordinary teaching from extraordinary student achievement. Research that would identify characteristics, qualities, and attributes of an effective teacher points in many directions. However the findings are at times contradictory. An abbreviated research of literature highlights some of these uncertainties with the exception of research on the relationship between teacher's beliefs and student achievement.
Classroom teachers influence what and how students learn. There is evidence that individual teachers and their content knowledge and experience contribute to student achievement (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Policy Planning and Innovation, 2003). Yet, even though linking high-quality teaching to higher student achievement may seem apparent, research, although extensive, is unclear as to what characterizes an effective teacher and the quantity and order of qualities teachers must possess and use to impact that achievement.
Teachers' preparation, professional knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, flexibility, and perseverance, along with many specific teaching practices, make a difference in student achievement (Wenglinksy, 2002). However, there is little agreement regarding what and how specific teacher attributes lead to increased student achievement.
Although research continues to provide a strong link between quality teachers and student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2003; Wenglinksy, 2002) there still exists some ambiguity about what characteristics a quality teacher possesses and the reliability of these traits as predictors of quality teaching, and ultimately, student achievement.
Teaching Experience
Years of teaching experience was researched by Rice (2003) with the expectation that longevity in teaching would increase teachers' knowledge and skills and positively affect student achievement. The study found that student achievement increased each year for the first 4 years of the teachers they researched; however, these annual gains seemed to stop after the teacher was in the profession for 5 years. Similarly, Carlson (2004) found that there was no significant correlation between longevity in teaching and student achievement on third-grade state reading examinations.
Studies in special education found similar results. Carlson (2004) did find a link between teacher experience and student achievement in special education; however, the findings were based on nonstandardized tests and teachers' self-reporting of student achievement, which brings the validity of the study into question. Another study of identified exemplary special education teachers by Pressley (2001) examined years of experience and classroom practices. Pressley's study found that there was an insignificant correlation between years of teaching and student achievement but found a significant correlation between teacher practices and student achievement.
Current research has made some causal relationships between teachers' preparation, intensity of teachers' coursework, and type of certification (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003). The research for years of teaching as a predictor of student achievement nonetheless is limited and still inconclusive. There is, however, a growing body of research that appears to link directly to student achievement; this research has studied the effects of in-service teacher training and teacher beliefs on student achievement.
In-Service Training for Teachers
The quantity and quality of in-service training may have an influence on teacher effectiveness and student achievement. The NCES (2001) reported that teachers who spent more time in professional development or in-service training were more likely to indicate that it had improved their instruction. Results from this national study indicated that teachers who participated for more than 8 hours in professional development activities were more likely than those who spent 1-8 hours in similar activities to report that it improved their teaching. Unfortunately, most professional development programs do not meet the identified needs of most classroom teachers.
The 2001 NCES study of 8,300 teachers in four states, found that the frequency and depth of most professional development programs currently provided to classroom teachers fell short of meeting their needs. A study by Flowers and Mertens (2003) had similar findings; teachers participated in professional development activities an average of only several times a year. Flowers and Mertens also found that professional development, to be effective in changing teacher behavior in the classroom, must be sustained, consistent, and focused on what the teachers believed was meaningful to their specific classrooms.
In a study of 1,027 mathematics and science teachers, Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001) found that teachers improved their knowledge and classroom practice through professionaldevelopment that was sustained, intensive, focused on academics, and actively involved participants. Cohen and Hill (1998) found similar results. They reviewed the California state assessments, and after factoring student and school conditions, found that teachers who engaged in sustained, collaborative professionaldevelopment around specific concepts in their curriculum were more likely to change their teaching practice in ways associated with greater student achievement.
O'Connor (1999) found that teachers who regularly attended staff development sessions in specific content areas of reading scored higher on tests that measured reading teaching knowledge than teachers who did not attend. This acquired knowledge was positively correlated to higher achievement for students in classes where teachers habitually attended professional development workshops in reading. O'Connor concluded that teachers with more knowledge in reading content tend to significantly affect overall student reading achievement.
Research continues to provide a strong relationship between professional development and the increase of teacher knowledge that might affect teacher practices in the classroom and ultimately affect student achievement (Sparks & Hirsh, 1997). However, the research remains unclear as a predictor of the relationship with overall teaching ability and how teachers internalize and transform knowledge into practices that affect student achievement.
There seemed to be consensus among researchers about the kind of teacher knowledge and abilities that may have the most important influence on student learning (Darling-Hammond, 2003). Promising research on teachers' beliefs about personal capacity to teach (Bandura, 1977; Hoy, 2000; Pajares, 1999) indicated that what teachers believe they can accomplish may predict their performance in the classroom.
Teachers' Beliefs
Teachers' beliefs are formed on two distinct beliefs. The first belief centers on the learning process, how students learn, and the external influences that may affect student learning. These beliefs are goal-orientated with mastery of information correlated to recognition of intelligence and achievement outcomes (Schunk, 1999). Although many preservice training programs for teachers have adopted this theory, the theory does not predict quality teacher practices in the classroom (Eggen&Kauchak, 2001).
The second belief teachers hold is a personal perception of their ability to be effective in the classroom and influence student achievement. This personal judgment of capability is called self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy has been directly linked to teacher performance with a significant correlation to the teachers' general ability (Pajares, 1999).
As evidenced, researchers have focused on a specific attribute of teacher quality, training, content knowledge, or temperament that might positively correlate to student achievement. Very little has been written that would create a conceptual framework for defining or predicting quality in teachers in general and teachers of special needs students specifically. Synthesizing current research on how teachers' skills, content knowledge, and most importantly, their own belief in their teaching abilities affect student achievement provides a portal to assist principals in identifying and retaining quality teachers.
