The Importance of Teacher Content Knowledge for Student Learning
Analysis of teacher and student assessment data shows a significant relationship between scores on the teacher assessment and changes in student scores (HLM, p < 0.05). In general terms, the higher a teacher's score, the greater the change in student scores. Specifically, one would expect students of a teacher scoring one standard deviation above the average on the teacher assessment to have a 0.19 standard deviation greater increase from pre to post than students of a teacher with the average score on the teacher assessment.
Further analyses suggest that when teachers hold specific misconceptions, their students are less likely to learn correct ideas than students of teachers who do not hold these misconceptions. These analyses are ongoing and will be presented in greater detail the Learning Network Conference.
