A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Why We Must Invest in Good Teaching

No success can come from efforts to increase student achievement without caring and competent teachers in our classrooms. Higher standards, stronger accountability systems, increased technology, and smaller classes—all rely on the presence of an excellent teaching corps.

Educators, policymakers, and legislators have become increasingly aware that our nation's goals for student learning depend on good teaching in all our schools.

• In 1997, President Clinton devoted an unprecedented one-quarter of his State of the Union address to education and issued a Call to Action for American Education, in which he set a number of ambitious goals for the nation. One of these goals was:

There will be a talented, dedicated, and well-prepared teacher in every classroom.

• States and local communities have focused recently on raising standards for students. Ensuring quality teaching is the necessary next step. If all children are to learn to high standards, then all educators need the capacity to teach to those high standards.

Good Teaching Makes a Difference!

We now have compelling evidence that confirms what parents have always known—the teacher makes a critical difference in a child's learning. Research has found that the quality of teaching in our classrooms is the most important in-school factor for improving student achievement.

• Quality of teaching has major impact on student achievement. Students whose initial achievement levels are comparable have "vastly different academic outcomes as a result of the sequence of teachers to which they are assigned." ^[1]

The following studies measured teachers' effectiveness over time based on gains in the achievement of their students. Students were tested every year, and a "value-added" approach was used to determine how much their achievement improved from year to year (regardless of their initial achievement level)—and thus, how effective their teachers were.

• A study in Tennessee found that students who have three effective teachers or three ineffective teachers in a row have vastly different achievement levels. Because of differences in teacher effectiveness, students whose achievement levels were similar in mathematics at the beginning of third grade scored 50 percentile points apart on fifth grade achievement tests just three years later. ^[2] (Overhead 1)

• Similarly, in Dallas, Texas, students who started at similar achievement levels in reading and math at the beginning of third grade were 34-50 percentile points apart three years later, as a result of the difference in effectiveness of their teachers. ^[3] (Overhead 2)

• Lasting effects of good—and bad—teaching. Students assigned to ineffective teachers continue to show the effects of such teachers even when those students are subsequently assigned to very effective teachers. The residual effects of both very effective and ineffective teachers are measurable two years later, regardless of the effectiveness of teachers in later grades. ^[4]
• Teacher quality's powerful influence on student learning. Studies show that teachers' ability, experience, and education are clearly associated with increases in student achievement. Spending additional resources on teacher professional development is the most productive investment schools can make to raise student achievement. ^[5]

[The Current State of Teaching in America]