Policy Implications of Long-Term Teacher Effects on Student Achievements	Karen L. Bembry, Heather R. Jordan, Elvia Gomez Mark C. Anderson, Robert L. Mendro Dallas Independent School District Dallas, TX 75204

 It is clear that teachers have large effects on student achievement, that effects have strong additive components over time, and that teacher effects are large enough to dwarf effects associated with most other educational interventions. The impact this information has on local educational policy should be immediate for it strikes at the very basic issue of equal access to a quality education for all students and the guarantee that all students have opportunities to learn and achieve.

Implications for Policies Relating to Student Equity

Much of the recent focus of educational policy is concerned with equity in student access to a quality education (Kozol, 1991; Oakes, 1990; Glazer, 1987, Darling-Hammond, 1987). This focus is grounded in the belief that all students deserve a quality education, and schools must be organized around this goal. This is the foundation of the United States’ concept of "comprehensive schools" (Berliner and Biddle, 1995).

Results from this study indicate that equal access to a quality education is jeopardized for students who receive a less effective teacher. The bias analysis indicates that students with low achievement tend to be assigned to less effective teachers and students with high achievement tend to be assigned to the most effective teachers. This is most likely due to the fact that most of the effective teachers teach honors courses or upper-level courses, beginning in the upper elementary grades. While this is not in and of itself unequal, the fact that a similar caliber of teacher is not available to the low achieving students is relevant.

Berliner and Biddle (1995) have formulated a Student Achievement Law which underlines the importance of equal access: "Regardless of what anyone claims about student and school characteristics, opportunity to learn is the single most powerful predictor of student achievement." Students who are placed with an ineffective teacher are denied this opportunity to learn during that time. And the common practice of placing students who have had an ineffective teacher with a highly effective one to erase differences, even over three years, does not remedy entirely the loss of achievement. This is further compounded by the fact that this not a random or occasional occurrence but over the years develops into a bias in the assignment of students to teachers. This can be described as an "accumulation of disadvantage" for some students. Again, this is not a natural hazard in life, but a direct result of a school district that retains ineffective teachers.

The impact on educational policy is two-fold. It is the school’s responsibility to remediate students already affected by less-than-effective teachers. Districts must find ways to modify the impact of an ineffective teacher currently in the classroom. It also identifies larger responsibilities--to initiate procedures for eliminating systematic bias in assigning lower achieving students to less effective teachers and develop systems through which all teachers are made more effective. In fact, "school districts must adopt transfer and reassignment policies that protect the rights of the disadvantaged to an equal education." (Bridges, 1990)

Policies governing campus organization and teacher assignment will also need to be reassessed. New ways to reconfigure the student/teacher assignments so that more students are exposed to the highly effective teachers must be identified. For example, one suggestion might be to pair teachers, a highly effective teacher with an identified ineffective teacher, and return to team teaching as part of the developmental process for the ineffective teacher and the process of increasing equity for the students. Schools should explore other options that would effect immediate equity among all students regardless of student achievement level.

Implications for Policies Relating to Teachers

Policies governing teacher recruitment, evaluation, and retention are also affected. Without a large pool of qualified candidates leaving university education programs, the responsibility of rehabilitating an ineffective teacher falls to the local school district. Bridges warns that this is not a simple process: "because the teacher’s problems commonly stem from several factors, remedial assistance, if it is to be effective, must be targeted toward all of the underlying causes, not simply the presumed lack of skill or ability." (Bridges, 1990). Procedures for assisting teachers to improve their effectiveness with students need to be as comprehensive as possible. In fact, "investing in support for teacher expertise was found to be the most cost-effective way to increase student achievement." (National Education Goals Panel. 1997)

The conclusions from the Dallas Math Study indicate that most effective teachers 1) are knowledgeable of their content 2) cover the entire curriculum including higher level or complex skills, 3) constantly assess student learning and 4) engage in "deep teaching."

This is a starting point for assessing teacher skills. The district should identify a teacher’s knowledge of the subjects he or she teaches, and if it is found inadequate, have procedures for improving it. Campus administrators need to assure that that all of the curriculum is taught. Teachers know how to teach higher order skills and engage in higher level skills study with students on a daily basis.

Historically, teachers have not been taught how to engage in thorough analyses of students to identify skill levels and abilities. Even today, it is not a systematic portion of a basic educational coursework, and those teachers who engage in it successfully do so almost as an individual personal skill. With this lack of background in assessing student progress common in the teaching profession, districts will need to develop training for teachers in the continuous assessment of students and then assure that they engage in that assessment.

Campus administrators also need to determine how completely a teacher is covering curricula and to what level of complexity. Constant monitoring of classrooms as well as systematic discussions with teachers regarding each student’s level of learning would be important aspects of this process. Rigorous and accurate teacher evaluation, then, becomes an even more imperative directive of a successful campus administrator.

How teachers are compensated and any status they are able to achieve may also need to be evaluated. Incentive awards, revamping differences in pay scales due to differences in degrees, and other salary inducements could encourage teachers to excel. This may lead to different levels of teachers, such as master teacher, intern, etc., based on demonstrated and consistent student achievement.