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Study: One Good Teacher Can Have Long-Term Impact
Apple for the (great) teacher.
A major study has linked good teachers to lasting gain for students. The study, conducted by Harvard and Columbia University economists and reported in the New York Times, looked at 2.5 million students over 20 years. It measured not only test scores, but other variables like students’ incomes after graduation.
Elementary- and middle-school teachers who raised students’ standardized test scores had such far-reaching, long-term impacts. Their students:
- Are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers,
- Are more likely to enroll in college, and
- Earned more money as adults.
The study showed that students with just one excellent teacher between fourth and eighth grades will earn $4,600 more during his or her lifetime than a student who had average or poor teachers during that time. While $4,600 over the course of a lifetime may not be that much, if you look at it in terms of that student’s entire class, we’re looking at $266,000. Multiply that amount by the number of classes, and the number of years that one excellent teacher is in the classroom, and it’s a huge amount of money.
Controlling for several factors, including students’ backgrounds, the study found that “value-added” scores consistently identified some teachers as better than others, even if the individual teachers’ scores varied from year to year. “Value-added” ratings measure the impact teachers have on test scores.
The study also disproved the commonly-held theory that great teachers in the early years of education have more impact than great teachers in the later years.
While it seems like a given that good teachers inspire kids to do well in other areas of their lives, the study was able to attach hard numbers to areas that are notoriously hard to measure. I doubt that anyone believes that standardized test scores are the end-all and be-all to measuring teachers, but it’s great to see a study that really shows the impact even one great teacher has on the life of a student.
Hopefully, every child has at least one great teacher in his or her educational career. I was fortunate enough to have lots of great teachers, but two stick in my mind as life-changing. Great teachers aren’t just about the academics; they’re the ones who teach you about the kind of person you want to be, the kind of parent you want to be, the kind of citizen you want to be. And then they show you that it’s possible to make that happen.
The teachers who made the most lasting impact on my life? Mr. Flanagan and Mr. McGrath. Thank you, gentlemen, for looking past my annoying, sullen teen angst and believing I could succeed.
(Photo Credit: Clare Bloomfield)
Talk back! What teachers have had the biggest impact on your life?
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4 Comments
aj commented on Jan 10 12 at 10:10 amin florida we have the fcat and its all teachers are allowed to teach. they have to prepare their students to achieve the highest score possible on this test… they do not focus on actual learning, its really just for the schools overall grade not really about the students and what other things they really should be learning in elementary school. some teachers were even put down because even just a couple students didnt score well, the blamed it on the teacher, some kids just dont pay attention or listen and its not fair to the teachers, teachers have the hardest job teaching our kids and they should be able to teach them based on topics relative to their lives not standardized test worksheets and practice workbooks
Karen commented on Jan 10 12 at 1:54 pmI’d like to see the impact of one bad one, because that’s what we’re dealing with right now. Ugh.
Sanriobaby =^.^= commented on Jan 11 12 at 7:24 pmIt’s so true, a great teacher can inspire the very best in kids and can have a profound and positive impact on the rest of thier lives. Sadly, the bad teachers can do horrible damage to kids and that can also impact them quite negatively as well. I feel like there needs to be a higher standard for those who teach and society needs to not only respect thier role in kids lives, but they need to be honored as well. Higher pay is one way to keep good teachers around.
BioPHD commented on Apr 02 12 at 3:22 pmI had a horrible kindergarten teacher, and I’m lucky my mom listened to me and pulled me from her class. Bad teachers have lasting impacts. I shouldn’t even remember kindergarten at all, and all my memories are bad.
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