Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology New Practices for the New Millennium (2001) / Chapter Skim
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The Critical Importance of Well-Prepared Teachers for Student Learning and Achievement
The Critical Importance of Well-Prepared Teachers for Student Learning and Achievement
Pages 44-65
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From page 44... ...
briefly cast doubt on the direct importance of teachers in student achievement. This report seemed to indicate that the impact of teachers and the quality of teaching were less important to student learning and achievement than other factors, such as students' socioeconomic status.
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Figure 3-1 provides an overview of how research data, recommendations of professional organizations and their reports, national standards for teachers of science and mathematics, and extant standards for K-12 students in science and mathematics can influence the quality of K-12 teachers, teaching, and student achievement. THE EVIDENCE THAT HIGHQUALITY TEACHING MATTERS Before discussing further the various aspects of teacher quality, the study committee wishes to acknowledge and to emphasize that there are countless thousands of science and mathematics teachers who do excellent jobs in helping their students learn and achieve, often in very difficult circumstances and at THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF WELL-PREPARED TEACHERS
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Indeed, most of the concerns expressed in this report can be attributed to preparation and continuing professional development that are now either out-of-date or inadequate to meet the demands of new approaches to EDUCATING TEACHERS OF SCIENCE, Recommendations from Professional Organizations Science, Mathematics, and Technology Standards for Students teaching and learning of science and mathematics. However, everyone who is concerned about the quality of education should consider carefully adopting policies and practices that encourage the most qualified individuals to prepare for, enter, and remain in science and mathematics teaching and revamping or jettisoning those practices that dissuade or impede them from doing so.
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By disaggregating the (lata, the researchers were able to see the impact of quality teaching on each child over time (Sanders anti Rivers, 19961.i Sanders anti Rivers reported that student achievement at each grade level correlated positively with the quality of the teachers who taught those students. Also of interest was the researchers' discovery of residual effects; that is, they found that the in(livi(lual chil(lren they stu(lie tended not to recover after a school iSanders, Rivers, and their colleagues did not define teacher quality a priori.
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Ferguson (1991) found that the following teacher qualifications, listed in order from most to least important, had statistically significant effects on student scores: teacher language scores on the state examination, class size, years of teaching experience, and the earning of an advanced (legree.
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Findingsincluded that teachers with greater content knowIedge in a given subject and those with more teaching experience were more likely to ask higher level, cognitively based questions. Teachers with more content knowledge also had a greater orientation toward seeking information from students through questioning and discussion in their teaching compared to teachers with less content knowIedge.
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No significant differences were observed between the two groups based on years of teaching experience, years of experience teaching mathematics, or level of degree earned. Overall, in-field mathematics teachers knew more mathematics and showed evidence of using more effective teaching practices than did their out-of-field counterparts.
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Fetter found that three variables related to teacher preparation correlated with student test scores: the number of teachers in those high schools with emergency teaching permits, teaching experience as measured by years of service (excluding substitute experience) , and teachers' educational level.
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, commented, "After controlling for poverty, teacher experience and preparation significantly predict test scores" and "Schools with higher percentages of teachers on emergency permits tended to have lower achieving students in mathematics." In light of the positive impact of infield teaching on student achievement, why is out-of-field teaching so prevalent and what might be done to curtail the practice? This report examines that issue more fully in a subsequent section on recruiting teachers and staffing schools (see Chapter 6 "Other Benefits of Partnerships for Teacher Education in Science and Mathematics".
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comparative analysis of TIMSS videotapes of grade ~ mathematics classes in Germany, Japan, and the United States.8 The comparison shows some startling (lifferences in the instructional practices of mathematics teachers among the three countries (U.
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9An updated version of these recommendations from the Conference Board on the Mathematical Sciences will call for 21 hours in mathematics for all middle-school mathematics teachers. Additional information is available at |
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The national standards for K-12 science and mathematics do not dictate the level of knowledge required of K-12 teachers. Some find it reasonable to suggest, however, that, at a bare minimum, teachers should possess knowIe(lge anti (jeep un(lerstan(ling of the subject matter recommended for students at the level of their teaching and, preferably, one gra(le level category above their particular teaching level.~° Thus, the science knowledge set forth in the National Science Education Standards for mi(l(lle-leve} students would be the minimum level of science knowledge required of teachers for the elementary grades.ii The mathematics knowle(lge set forth in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards for middle-level students woul(1 be the minimum level of mathematics knowledge required of teachers for the elementary gra(les.
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Level of content knowledge typically has been defined by the specific number of hours of science content or mathematics content coursework that must be a part of prospective teachers' preparation. At the elementary school level, this might be one to three courses, which, (lepen(ling on the teacher e(lucation program or specific state requirements may or may not be tailored to prospective teachers at this grade level.
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recommended that education for prospective teachers be organized as a five-year process at a minimum. Clearly, some policymakers believe that teachers' knowledge of content in a subject area is important to successful teaching and to successful student learning, although how this is put into practice and interpreted varies widely among the states.
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Performances The teacher effectively uses multiple representations ancl explanations of disciplinary concepts that capture key ideas ancl link them to stuclents' prior unclerstanclings. The teacher can represent and use differing viewpoints, theories, "ways of knowing,/' and methods of inquiry in his/her teaching of subject matter concepts.
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also stated that content knowledge must be a central focus and an integral part of a mathematics teacher's preparation program. Similarly, after an extensive review of science education, Coble and Koballa (1996)
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Then, when prospective teachers of · · · ~ science go on in science counselors most often some of the same coursework engaged in by science majors they are exposed to science as a body of facts, not, as Coble and Koballa found more recently (1996) , as a way of knowing the natural world through inquiry.
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statec! flatly that the research literature supports the notion that "in the absence of conceptual unclerstancling of content, effective teaching is highly improbable." Few parallel studies exist for science education.
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At the beginning of their teacher preparation programs, 60 percent of these prospective teachers could not generate a real-worId example that would demonstrate to their students an application for the division of fractions. Moreover, they still could not generate an appropriate representation of division of fractions after they had graduated from their respective preparation programs.
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Although this study actually focused on the effects of educational policy, it revealed important information about the opportunities that teachers need both to learn and to teach new state-required mathematics content as a means of enhancing student achievement. Using data from a 1994 survey of California elementary school teachers and student scores from the 1994 California Learning Assessment System (CLAS)
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They state, "In mathematics, pe(lagogical content knowledge includes, but is not limite(1 to, useful representations, unifying ideas, clarifying examples anti counterexamples, helpful analogies, important relationships, and connections among ideas. Thus, pedagogical content knowledge is a subset of content knowle(lge that has particular utility for planning and conducting lessons that facilitate student learning." All of the studies cite(1 in this chapter, as well as those cite(1 earlier (e.g., Fetter, 1999)
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Their efforts must be supported by school and policy infrastructure, policies, and priorities that offer to teachers opportunities for continuing professional development and growth and that provide the facilities and resources necessary to encourage teaching and learning. Teachers also need good working conditions in order to thrive as professionals.
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