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Monday, April 12, 1999
Students of certified teachers more likely
to pass skills test
AUSTIN (AP) — Students whose instructors are teaching
in their licensed fields are more likely to pass the state assessment
test, according to a new analysis.
Researchers said the study suggests that a student's ability
to pass the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills — TAAS —
is linked to teacher certification.
“The evidence is pretty clear that (teacher certification)
matters,” said Uri Treisman, director of the Charles A. Dana
Center at the University of Texas, which conducted the study.
About a fifth of the state's students have teachers who were
not certified in the 1996-97 school year, according to the study.
At the high school level, schools with many low-income students
were less likely to have certified teachers.
The study's findings are likely to influence educational policies
under consideration by the Legislature, from ending social promotions
and increasing teacher pay to making schools tell parents when
their children are being taught by improperly certified teachers.
“We've got all this push for accountability, and we've
been leaving out the teacher,” Rep. Dianne White Delisi,
R-Temple, told the Austin American-Statesman. She has introduced
several bills to attract more people into teaching.
“The thing that unquestionably matters most is good teachers,”
said Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, a Washington
research and advocacy group for low-income students. “It's
the single most important variable in instruction.”
During the 1996-97 school year, 760,000 of the state's 3.8
million students were in classes taught by uncertified teachers,
the analysis showed.
In most of those cases, teachers were handling classes outside
their field, such as an English teacher leading a math class.
But it also included classes taught by professionals who switched
jobs in mid-career and had no formal instruction in education.
Others were teachers who had not yet received their certification.
The analysis by the Dana Center was based on 1996-97 school
year figures provided by the State Board for Educator Certification
and the Texas Education Agency. Researchers looked at certification
of teachers in elementary, middle and high school and TAAS passing
rates for students in grades three through five.
It found that at elementary schools where all of the teachers
were properly certified, students passed the TAAS at higher rates
than did students at schools where many teachers were uncertified
or teaching unfamiliar subjects.
The shortage of properly certified teachers was especially
serious in bilingual education and computer classes.
Treisman, who teaches calculus to UT freshmen, said students
who had certified math teachers in high school were more likely
to have taken advanced math classes, including calculus. Students
with uncertified math teachers took fewer honors math classes
because the school lacked teachers for those classes, he said.
The president of the Texas Federation of Teachers said the
study indicated that low-income students are even more disadvantaged
than had been thought.
“These kids are hit with a triple whammy,” said John
Cole. “They are in a low-wealth school district from an impoverished
family and end up with a teacher who stays one chapter ahead of
the kids.
“Not every student who fails to learn is the result of
bad teaching,” Cole said. “But you can't teach what
you don't know. That is why certification matters.”
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Copyright ©1999,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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