Better English teachers not only boost a student’s reading and writing performance in the short-term, but they also raise their students math and English achievement in future years. That’s according to a working paper, “Learning that Lasts: Unpacking Variation in Teachers’ Effects on Students’ Long-Term Knowledge,” by a team of Stanford University and University of Virginia researchers presented at the 7th Annual Calder Research Conference on January 23, 2014.
The researchers, Benjamin Master, Susanna Loeb and James Wyckoff, looked at 700,000 students in New York City in third through eighth grade over the course of eight school years (from 2003-04 to 2011-12). Their research initially confirmed the lasting impact of good English language arts or math teachers within their subjects. These teachers not only produce higher than expected test scores during the year that they are teaching the students, but their students go on to score better in that subject in subsequent years. Specifically, one-fifth of a teacher’s value added to achievement persists into the subsequent year.
More surprising were the crossover effects from English to math. The researchers found that the students of good English language arts teachers had higher than expected math scores in subsequent years. And this long-term boost to math performance was nearly as large (three quarters) as the long-term benefits within the subject of English. Conversely, good math teachers had only minimal long-term effects on English performance. Their positive effects were more subject specific.
Read the full story here.
Read and article on effective practices of principals that result in higher student achievement here.
See more about Susanna Loeb here.
© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305.
