Highly qualified teachers

This was released in late May so sorry if it’s old news to some. But with all the recent talk about “highly qualified” teachers, I thought it was worth a review.

Hoover Institution – News Releases – Students Achieve More with Teachers Who Take Personal Responsibility for Student Learning:

Teachers who take personal responsibility for student learning can improve student achievement, according to Laura LoGerfo, an education researcher at the Urban Institute. Her peer-reviewed study of first-grade teachers reveals that students with a highly responsible teacher can see a 3 percent increase in their yearly achievement gain.

The article initially attracted my attention because of the above statement, who would take more personal responsibility for student learning than the parent? But many argue that homeschoolers often don’t have professional qualifications and shouldn’t be allowed to teach their own. Well, apparently professional qualifications aren’t necessarily great indicators for student achievement.

Hoover Institution – News Releases – Students Achieve More with Teachers Who Take Personal Responsibility for Student Learning:

Surprisingly, teacher certification and experience, two of the cornerstones of NCLB’s “highly qualified” teacher requirement, were not determiners of committed teachers. In fact, teachers who have completed more coursework in education showed a slightly weaker sense of responsibility than those with less coursework.

The funny part of this is that don’t most free-market conservatives criticize teacher unions for mandating promotions and tenure based on such requirements?