Linda Darling?Hammond|Deborah Holtzman|Su Jin Gatlin|Julian Vasquez Heilig
Does Teacher Preparation Matter? Evidence about Teacher Certification, Teach for America, and Teacher Effectiveness.
Stanford University|Stanford University|Stanford University|Stanford University
recent debates utility teacher education raised questions whether certified teachers general effective met testing training requirements certification whether candidates strong liberal arts backgrounds might least effective teacher education graduates study examines questions large studentlevel data set houston texas links student characteristics achievement data teachers certification status experience degree levels 19952002 data set also allows examination whether teach america tfa candidatesrecruits selective universities receive weeks training begin teachingare effective similarly experienced certified teachers series regression analyses looking 4th 5th grade student achievement gains six different reading mathematics tests sixyear period find certified teachers consistently produce stronger student achievement gains uncertified teachers findings hold tfa recruits well others controlling teacher experience degrees student characteristics uncertified tfa recruits less effective certified teachers perform well uncertified teachers tfa recruits become certified 2 3 years well certified teachers supporting student achievement gains however nearly leave within three years teachers effectiveness appears strongly related preparation received teaching