Section 4: Teacher effectiveness

Schiefelbein & Simmons (1981) reviewed research in more than 20 countries, and found that teachers without certificates in educational training had students who tested as well as those with certificates in 19 out of 32 studies. They concluded that "teacher certification should be reviewed with caution as a way to increase student achievement". They also found that years of teacher experience was a significant determinant of student achievement in only 7 out of 19 studies, and that more years of teacher training was not related to higher student achievement in 5 out of 6 studies.

These rather discouraging results have led to further research. Avalos & Haddad (1981) conducted an extensive review and argued that "it does not seem reasonable to conclude that training has no effect upon achievement". (p33)

Qualifications and training, contrary to existing pessimism, are related to teacher behaviour and pupil achievement, although it is not known how permanent this effect is nor what the optimum levels of qualifications are. (ibid, p35)

Other findings from the Avalos & Haddad review were that some methods of teacher training (e.g. micro-teaching and simulation) appeared consistently effective in promoting changes in teaching techniques, that teacher expectations of students were important, and that

The discovery/inquiry method... proved in most cases to be superior in promoting higher levels of cognitive skills...... On lower levels of cognitive achievement, teaching through behavioural objectives was found to have an effect. (ibid, p35)

Saha (1983) reviewed empirical research studies in 21 LDCs on the relationships between teacher variables and student academic achievement. Results are summarised in the following table, in which the entries denote the number of studies demonstrating a significant positive relationship (+), no relationship (0) or a significant negative relationship (-) respectively.

		direction of relationships
		+	0	-
demographic and background variables
1.	teacher sex
	male	12	1	-
	female	9	6	-
2.	teacher age	3	3	-
3.	teacher SES	2	1	-
4.	frequency of English in teacher childhood home	-	1	-
5.	expatriate teachers	2	11	-
qualification variables
6.	t. educational attainment	4	7	-
7.	t. credentials/certification	21	18	2
8.	t. ability/achievement	5	3	1
9.	teacher experience	7	3	4
10.	teacher salary	3	-	-
11.	t. upgrading programs	3	-	-
teacher behaviour/attitudes
12.	t. expectations of students	4	-	-
13.	teaching methods (TV, microteaching, programmed instruction)	6	-	-
14.	t. absenteeism/punctuality	-	2	-
15.	t. attitudes toward job	2	4	-
16.	t. behavior (lesson prep. & homework assignment)	10	9	1

These data need to be interpreted with some care. The research was conducted over a decade ago, and there may be doubts about the methodology of some studies, or of the stability (over time) of the findings. There is little information about the strength of the relationships, or about the relative importance of the teacher variables considered. Guthrie (1982), in a meta-analysis, argued that there is considerable support for the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between teachers' general education and professional training as independent variables and teachers' performance as dependent variable. However the exact nature of the relationship is complex and varies considerably between different educational and cultural contexts. Guthrie noted that considerable attention is needed for operational specification of the hypothesis according to the needs of individual countries.

Much teacher effectiveness research appears to be inconclusive. In a more recent example from Thailand, based on grade 5 mathematics, Nitsaisook & Postlethwaite (1986) found that the larger context of the school in general is important as well as how the students perceive the task orientation, feedback, and structuring of teachers.

The field of teaching effectiveness research has not yet arrived at a point where it knows exactly what makes a teacher effective, and clearly further research is necessary..... Those teachers that are task oriented and who have been trained both to deal quickly with procedural and discipline problems in the classroom and to apply certain questioning techniques in large classes are successful. (p437)

It is to be noted that Lockheed & Verspoor (1991) regard lengthy preservice pedagogical training as a 'blind alley' policy option. They argue for shortening teacher training courses, and for emphasis on inservice training. The mainground for this recommendation appears to be cost; they quote data from 27 low-income and lower-middle-income countries on the annual cost of teacher training as a multiple of general secondary education. The average ratio is 7.06, although the range is from 0.53 to a staggering 34.67! Lockheed & Verspoor summarise their chapter on Improving the Preparation and Motivation of Teachers as follows:

A key determinant of student achievement is the quality of teaching. An effective teacher should possess at least a thorough knowledge of the subject matter being taught, an appropriate repertoire of pedagogical skills, and motivation. The teaching force in many countries fails to meet these standards..... Governments must design policies and programs aimed specifically at improving the academic and pedagogical preparation of teachers and providing incentives to strengthen their motivation and professional commitment. The challenge is particularly difficult for low income countries, which must not only improve the quality of the current teaching force but also expand its size if they are to achieve universal primary education.

To address the problem of inadequate academic background, countries will have to shift the general education component of teacher training to secondary schools, shorten preservice teacher training, and improve the process of recruiting students for teacher training institutions. Strategies for developing good pedagogical skills should include revising the admission requirements, emphasizing pedagogical methods, and incorporating practice teaching into preservice training. Improving teacher motivation is perhaps the trickiest task that governments face in their effort to upgrade the teaching force. Doing so will require a variety of measures, such as paying adequate salaries and providing nonsalary benefits, improving working conditions, offering opportunities for professional advancement and incentives for good performance, and strengthening supervision and support. (pp 115-6)

This last point is worth further investigation. According to Lillis (1992, p 1)

Effective inspection and supervision is seen as one key to the complex issue of improving the quality and efficiency of basic education, the quality of educational management and the quality of educational attainment.

However Lillis points out that little or no empirical evidence is available on which to judge the impact of inspection and supervision. It appears that evaluation research in this area is desirable; it is possible that appropriate training measures would be effective.