Monday, February 9, 2009

No difference.

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc has a new study out on teacher certification comparing traditional versus alternatively certification teachers.

The conclusion:

"This study found no benefit, on average, to student achievement from placing an AC teacher in the classroom when the alternative was a TC teacher, but there was no evidence of harm, either. In addition, the experimental and nonexperimental findings together indicate that although individual teachers appear to have an effect on students’ achievement, we could not identify what it is about a teacher that affects student achievement. Variation in student achievement was not strongly linked to the teachers’ chosen preparation route or to other measured teacher characteristics."

Important stuff. More to come on this but this is the third study to come to the same conclusion - there is no benefit to teachers going through traditional routes. Having a route like ABCTE's gives you more potential teachers and does nothing to the quality of teaching in schools.

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