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A Best Fit Approach to Improving Teacher
Resources

• Jennifer King Rice
• University of Maryland

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Five Questions

1. Why focus so much attention on teacher resources?
2. What does existing research say about teacher
   resources?
3. What is the range of policy responses to improve
   teacher resources?
4. How can policymakers make wise investments?
5. How can policymakers make effective decisions
   that incorporate contextual considerations?

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Q1 Why focus so much attention on teacher
resources?

• Cost Single largest investment in public
  education amounting to 200 billion in 2002 alone
• Impact Researchers, policy makers, and the
  general public all agree that teachers are the
  most important school-based factor in realizing
  student achievement.

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Nonetheless, key questions exist regarding
teacher resources

• What makes a quality teacher?
• What should states think about as they struggle
  to comply with No Child Left Behind requirements
  regarding highly qualified teachers?
• What investments can/should states make toward
  improving teacher resources?
• How should teacher resources be distributed
  across states, districts, and schools to achieve
  equity and adequacy goals?

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Q2 What does existing research say about teacher
resources?

• Recent effort to distill the evidence on teacher
  quality and qualifications
• Starting point
• Are qualified teachers really quality teachers?
• Are hiring and compensation policies that reward
  certain qualifications the equivalent of
  investing in teacher quality?
• Does hiring and retaining qualified teachers lead
  to improvements in student achievement?

FOR MORE INFO...
Rice, J.K. (2003) Teacher quality Understanding
the effectiveness of teacher attributes.
Washington, D.C. Economic Policy Institute.
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Current conclusions from the research

• Inconclusive and inconsistent evidence
• No systematic relationship between educational
  inputs teacher resources and student
  achievement

Teacher variable Number of estimates Positive and significant Negative and significant Statistically Insignificant
Education program 171 9 5 86
Experience 207 29 5 66
Teacher test score 41 37 10 54
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Criticisms of Hanusheks approach

• vote counting methodology that doesnt consider
  size of estimates or design of studies
• weighting of the studies
• limited to production function studies

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Studies included in the review

• Empirical
• Relationship between teacher qualities and their
  performance
• Peer reviewed (mostly journals)
• Past three decades
• Public education in the U.S.

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Wide variety of studies included in the review

• Multiple outcomes
• Range of methods
• Five teacher attributes

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Teacher attributes included in the study

• Teacher experience
• Teacher preparation program and degree
• Teacher certification
• Coursework taken by teachers in preparation for
  the profession
• Teachers own test scores

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Findings Teacher experience

• The evidence reveals a positive relationship
  between student achievement and teacher
  experience.
• At the elementary level, this relationship is
  most evident during the first several years of
  teaching.
• Estimates of the effect of teacher experience on
  high school student achievement suggest that
  experience may have a more sustained effect,
  continuing later into teachers careers.

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Findings Teacher preparation program and degree

• The evidence is mixed regarding the degree to
  which teacher education programs contribute to
  teachers knowledge.  
• Evidence suggests a modest positive effect of
  institutional selectivity on student performance
  at the elementary level, and a positive effect at
  the high school level.
• Studies of extended teacher education programs
  reveal positive effects on entry into the
  profession and retention rates, but no clear
  impact on teacher performance.
• Studies of advanced degrees have found a positive
  effect of subject-specific advanced degrees on
  student achievement (only for h.s. math and
  science).

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Findings Teacher certification

• Studies have demonstrated a positive effect of
  certified teachers on high school mathematics
  achievement when the certification is in
  mathematics. This subject-specific teacher
  certification effect is less obvious in other
  high school subject areas, and is zero or even
  negative in elementary level math and reading.
• Studies of emergency or alternative route teacher
  certification have shown little clear impact on
  student performance in high school mathematics
  and science, relative to teachers acquiring
  certification through standard channels.

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Findings Teacher coursework

• Coursework in both pedagogy and content areas has
  a positive impact of student achievement.
• - Pedagogical coursework matters at all grade
  levels
• - Coursework in content areas is most apparent
  at the secondary level.
• Field experiences tend to be disconnected from
  the other components of teacher education
  programs. Despite this, studies suggest positive
  effects in terms of opportunities to learn the
  profession and reduced anxiety among new
  teachers.

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Findings Teacher test scores

• The research suggests that some test scores seem
  to predict levels of teacher performance and
  desired educational outcomes.
• - Tests that assess the impact of literacy
  levels or verbal abilities of teachers tend to
  show positive effects.
• - In contrast, studies of the impact of the NTE
  and other state-mandated tests of basic skills
  and/or teaching abilities report mixed findings.

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Findings with respect to minority and
disadvantaged students

• The positive effect of highly qualified teachers
  appears to be more pronounced for minority and
  disadvantaged students, with respect to some
  teacher attributes
• selectivity of the higher education institution
  they attended
• degrees
• test scores

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General findings

• More refined measures of what teachers know and
  can do
• Interactive nature of various teacher qualities
  and qualifications
• Teaching context matters

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Limitations and caveats

• Teacher attributes vary across time and place
• Findings are based on reported statistical
  significance
• Significant gaps exist in our knowledge base

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Implications for policy

• Teacher quality is important
• Many current teacher policies are based on thin
  or no empirical evidence
• Teacher policy should reflect a balance between
  higher standards and deregulation

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Q3 What is the range of policy responses to
improve teacher resources?

• Economic incentives
• Changes to teacher preparation programs
• Reform of teacher hiring process
• Initiatives designed to make schools better
  places to work

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Q4 How can policymakers make wise investments?

• Need to weigh costs and effectiveness of various
  alternatives.
• Must work within budget shortfalls
• Consider possibilities for resource reallocation
• Target interventions
• Be aware of total policy context
• Complementary policies
• Competing policies

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Q5 How can policymakers make effective decisions
that consider contextual factors?

• Three step decision-making framework
• Identify the problem using adequate data about
  state and local teacher resources
• Understand available policy alternatives and how
  they complement or compete with each other or
  policy contexts
• Examine the cost-effectiveness of the package
  of policies that might be implemented