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Do teachers matter? Measuring the variation in teacher effectiveness in England
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A recent research study by the University of Bristol estimated the effect of individual teachers on pupil outcomes in England, and the variability in teacher quality.
Key findings from the study:
The authors ranked teachers on a scale of effectiveness from 1 – 100 with 100 being the most effective - the points on the scale were referred to as percentiles. They found that teacher quality could make a significant impact on pupil performance. For example, pupils who were taught by a high quality teacher (75th percentile) gained just under a half a grade of a GCSE point in the subject they were being taught.
The study found that more able pupils tended to have higher quality teachers and that there was some tendency for disadvantaged pupils to have lower quality teachers.
While the study suggested it was possible to distinguish between teachers in terms of their quality, it was unable to show what caused these differences. For example, apart from very low levels of teaching experience (which showed a negative impact on pupil outcomes) the other observable characteristics of gender, age, experience and education of teachers were not found to make a significant difference to pupils’ results.
Now you have it - good teachers have an impact on pupil results!
Story updated: 17 May 2009
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