The quality of instruction in elementary classrooms has little to do with whether teachers have the credentials that meet their states鈥� definitions of 鈥渉ighly qualified鈥� under the No Child Left Behind Act, a federally sponsored study suggests.
Detailed observations of 5th graders in 20 states show that students in classrooms overseen by teachers labeled as highly qualified spent most of their time in whole-group or individual 鈥渟eatwork,鈥� focused on basic skills rather than problem-solving activities, and may or may not have received emotional and instructional support from their teachers.
鈥淭his pattern of instruction appears inconsistent with aims to add depth to students鈥� understanding, particularly in mathematics and science,鈥� write the authors of the study, led by Robert C. Pianta, an education professor at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. 鈥淭eachers met credentialing standards, but their classrooms, even if emotionally positive, were mediocre in terms of quality of instructional support.鈥�
The study鈥攄one under the auspices of the federal government鈥檚 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, or NICHD鈥攎easures the quality of instruction under a system designed by Mr. Pianta. The findings are likely to provide ammunition for critics of the current system of teacher credentialing.
鈥淗aving a license to teach doesn鈥檛 really make you a good teacher,鈥� said Robert J. Yinger, the research director of the Teacher Quality Partnership, a Cincinnati-based study focusing on the preparation and ongoing support of Ohio鈥檚 teaching workforce. He is a former dean of education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
A teaching certificate, Mr. Yinger said, represents what a license does in other fields鈥攎inimum qualifications and a promise to 鈥渄o no harm鈥� in the classroom.
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The study is the latest contribution from the NICHD鈥檚 long-running Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Launched in 1991 with more than 1,300 newborns, the study has also yielded data on the effects and quality of different child-care and preschool settings.
Now that the children鈥攔oughly 1,000 from the original sample鈥攈ave completed several years of school, the project has become a source of information on the classroom environment.
The 5th graders in the sample were spread out over 20 states and attended more than 1,000 schools in more than 400 districts. Researchers are continuing to follow the students, who are now sophomores in high school.
Inconsistent Experiences
Appearing in the March 30 issue of the journal Science, the instruction study shows that children are unlikely to experience the same level of classroom quality across their elementary school years.
It also found that children from middle-class families, who scored high on achievement tests at age 4陆, were more likely than those from poor families to be in classrooms with a high 鈥減ositive emotional or instructional climate.鈥�
Having a teacher who is sensitive, warm, and positive, and who also provides focused instruction, can make a big difference for children who are considered at risk for school failure, according to an earlier study on the same sample of children when they were in 1st grade.
In that study, released in 2005, Mr. Pianta found that when 1st grade teachers provided ongoing feedback to students about their progress, children whose mothers had less than a college degree performed at the same level on student-achievement tests as children with more highly educated mothers. (鈥淪tudy: Quality of 1st Grade Teachers Plays Key Role,鈥� Sept. 21, 2005.)
But if the less-advantaged children did not receive that same level of attention and instruction, they scored lower than their peers. Similar patterns of success also were found for children with past behavior and school adjustment problems if they received emotional support from their teachers.
鈥淚t is troubling that opportunities to learn in classrooms are unrelated to features intended to regulate such opportunities and that students most in need of high-quality instruction are unlikely to experience it consistently,鈥� Mr. Pianta writes.
The sample of students in his study is not considered nationally representative because it is largely made up of middle-class families.
Still, Mr. Pianta writes, the study is significant because it shows that classroom experiences can be 鈥渙bserved reliably in large numbers,鈥� and that the results can complement student test data when measuring the quality of the education system.
While he doesn鈥檛 make specific recommendations in his paper, Mr. Pianta says he would like to see such observations become a part of the determination of whether a teacher is considered to be a high-quality educator.
Mr. Yinger argued that the study鈥檚 findings highlight the weaknesses of the teacher-credentialing system.
While the NCLB law requires that teachers be 鈥渉ighly qualified,鈥� Mr. Yinger said that the term is 鈥渕isleading鈥� to the public, leaving parents with the impression that their children鈥檚 teachers are exemplary.
The federal law, which holds schools accountable for the academic progress of their students, allows states to determine what is meant by a highly qualified teacher. Some states are more stringent than others.
鈥楨xcellent鈥� Timing
鈥淚 think the timing of this study is excellent,鈥� said Marilyn Errett, the administrator for government relations at California鈥檚 Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which licenses teachers. The California state legislature recently directed the agency to review the effectiveness of the state鈥檚 Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program鈥攁 two-year process for rookie teachers that is required before they earn their full credential.
Mr. Pianta said that some states have tried to go beyond basic certification and use teacher portfolios, which are similar to the kind of evidence of effectiveness that is gathered as part of the process for earning certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. New Mexico looks at a portfolio of teaching plans and other factors in weighing its teacher qualifications. (鈥淩igor Disputed In Standards For Teachers,鈥� Jan. 14, 2004.)
But Mr. Yinger said those efforts haven鈥檛 gone very far.
鈥淚f we really want to deal with the issue of quality teaching,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e鈥檝e got to get serious about some more rigorous way of looking at teacher performance.鈥�
At the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, the Washington-based organization that awards certificates based on a teacher-candidate鈥檚 performance on written tests, Mr. Pianta鈥檚 observation tool鈥攖he Classroom Assessment Scoring System鈥攊s being used as part of a pilot study to determine who should earn the organization鈥檚 new Master Teacher credential.
鈥淭here are so many aspects of being a teacher that go beyond a kid鈥檚 test score,鈥� said Josh Boots, the group鈥檚 director of development and evaluation.
