CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- What matters most in student achievement? Teacher quality.
"Having effective teachers rises to the top of every study as the most important factor in determining student success," says the Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia's Primary and Secondary Education System, which Gov. Tomblin released last month. It says high-caliber teachers are "the best predictor of student achievement."
Studies confirm that the quality of education cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, and getting the right people to become teachers is the thing that matters most in student outcomes.
West Virginia measures teacher effectiveness in terms of certification, academic degrees, graduate hours and teaching experience. State minimum salary schedules are based on these factors.
However, the state's policy is contradicted by the audit's statement that "the best predictor of teacher effectiveness is not certification, advanced degrees or experience level." It says "tying additional compensation to advanced degrees" should be discouraged because "research has shown unequivocally that advanced degrees do not impact teacher effectiveness." It adds that salary schedules which "reward experience" also should be discouraged.
Instead, according to the audit, "differential pay" should be supported, with compensation tied "to teacher effectiveness." The audit also recommends that seniority be eliminated as a factor in teacher hiring practices.
The audit of public schools, performed by Public Works LLC at the request of the governor, says advanced degrees, such as master's degrees, do not appear to improve teacher effectiveness, and that while teacher effectiveness may continue to improve in the first four or five years of experience, there isn't much evidence that teachers become more effective beyond that period.
Student achievement is the first and most essential concern of any public school system. Teacher quality and how it affects students ought, therefore, to be considered the most important parts of the audit, to be given priority in executive and legislative initiatives based thereon.
If teacher certification, academic degrees, experience and seniority are not indicators of teacher effectiveness, what may be? The National Council on Teacher Quality says "most of what makes a teacher effective are the 'soft' personal attributes that are much harder to measure." Unfortunately, the council does not identify those attributes.
Similarly, the new state audit impugns multiple degrees and years of teaching experience as contributing to the effectiveness of a teacher, without specifying what qualities do.
Such personal traits presumably include being compassionate, inspiring and caring of students, making them feel important, welcomed and personally connected with the teacher -- these traits may be innate and not teachable.
Teach for America lists seven skills it seeks to identify in its application and interview process, all of which are largely personal traits. One commentator summed up: "To me, the interesting question is whether it's possible to teach someone to be a good teacher or if teaching skills are inborn qualities that some people have and others can't acquire." A respected teacher in the Kanawha County schools expressed the view that teachers are born and not made.
Identification and measurement of desirable traits may be difficult, but, in my opinion, not impossible. The personal qualities of a good K-12 teacher should move to the forefront of discussion of issues in education. I offer the following traits for consideration:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- What matters most in student achievement? Teacher quality.
"Having effective teachers rises to the top of every study as the most important factor in determining student success," says the Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia's Primary and Secondary Education System, which Gov. Tomblin released last month. It says high-caliber teachers are "the best predictor of student achievement."
Studies confirm that the quality of education cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, and getting the right people to become teachers is the thing that matters most in student outcomes.
West Virginia measures teacher effectiveness in terms of certification, academic degrees, graduate hours and teaching experience. State minimum salary schedules are based on these factors.
However, the state's policy is contradicted by the audit's statement that "the best predictor of teacher effectiveness is not certification, advanced degrees or experience level." It says "tying additional compensation to advanced degrees" should be discouraged because "research has shown unequivocally that advanced degrees do not impact teacher effectiveness." It adds that salary schedules which "reward experience" also should be discouraged.
Instead, according to the audit, "differential pay" should be supported, with compensation tied "to teacher effectiveness." The audit also recommends that seniority be eliminated as a factor in teacher hiring practices.
The audit of public schools, performed by Public Works LLC at the request of the governor, says advanced degrees, such as master's degrees, do not appear to improve teacher effectiveness, and that while teacher effectiveness may continue to improve in the first four or five years of experience, there isn't much evidence that teachers become more effective beyond that period.
Student achievement is the first and most essential concern of any public school system. Teacher quality and how it affects students ought, therefore, to be considered the most important parts of the audit, to be given priority in executive and legislative initiatives based thereon.
If teacher certification, academic degrees, experience and seniority are not indicators of teacher effectiveness, what may be? The National Council on Teacher Quality says "most of what makes a teacher effective are the 'soft' personal attributes that are much harder to measure." Unfortunately, the council does not identify those attributes.
Similarly, the new state audit impugns multiple degrees and years of teaching experience as contributing to the effectiveness of a teacher, without specifying what qualities do.
Such personal traits presumably include being compassionate, inspiring and caring of students, making them feel important, welcomed and personally connected with the teacher -- these traits may be innate and not teachable.
Teach for America lists seven skills it seeks to identify in its application and interview process, all of which are largely personal traits. One commentator summed up: "To me, the interesting question is whether it's possible to teach someone to be a good teacher or if teaching skills are inborn qualities that some people have and others can't acquire." A respected teacher in the Kanawha County schools expressed the view that teachers are born and not made.
Identification and measurement of desirable traits may be difficult, but, in my opinion, not impossible. The personal qualities of a good K-12 teacher should move to the forefront of discussion of issues in education. I offer the following traits for consideration:
Being compassionate, inspiring and caring of students, making them feel important, welcomed and personally connected with the teacher.Having passion and competence for teaching the subject matter.Possessing a high level of literacy.Believing that students can learn, having high expectations and being demanding of them.Having the respect of students as being genuinely interested in their learning and accomplishments and as being firmly and steadfastly in control.Striving to cultivate, direct and sustain curiosity in students, and encouraging them to think critically, communicate effectively, and to be creative and cooperative.Being quick to identify students who are falling behind their classmates in learning and to intervene in providing them with help.Having conduct and attire that gain the respect of the students.Having a sense of humor.By these standards, I once was and would have continued to be a lousy teacher.
Readers may ask: How can anyone really pinpoint such personal traits? While the answer perhaps cannot be objectively known, there exists a means through which they can be indicated, if not precisely known.
One means involves students and their experiences. Why not have them, particularly those in the ninth, 10th and 11th grades, tell us what personal traits of teachers have been most conducive to their learning? I am quite willing to give some credence to their views. Are you?
If the governor and the Legislature are willing to address the audit's recommendations, as difficult and controversial as they be, they offer the potential to put West Virginia in the forefront of public school systems.
McElwee is a Charleston lawyer with the firm Robinson & McElwee PLLC.
