Why Not the Best Teachers?

The American Institute for Research (AIR) conducted a study for the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation titled, “Right-sizing the Classroom: Making the Most of Great Teachers.”

AIR’s Michael Hansen, who conducted the study, said “Instead of trying to keep classes small, we should be leveraging our existing teacher talent by enlarging the classes taught by our best instructors – and compensating these excellent teachers for the extra work involved.”  He surveyed students in grades 4-8 in a four-year period between 2007-08 to 2010-11 in the state of North Carolina.

The actual number of students assigned to the top 25% of North Carolina teachers ranged between 24-29%. Poor and disadvantaged students were about 8% less likely than non-disadvantaged students to be assigned to one of the state’s top 25% of effective teachers, the study found.

 

Spencer Irvine is a staff writer at Accuracy in Academia.
If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail contact@academia.org.