Good Teaching Wins Again

The study ranged over twenty years, tracked 2.5 million students, and focused on teachers in elementary schools and middle schools and their students’ standardized test scores. Economists Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E Rickoff, in their analysis of scores, found that the better the teacher (as determined by those who were able to help students raise standardized test scores), the more likely the student was to go to college and earn more money. They also found a correlation between the quality of teacher and teenage pregnancy. Even one year with a quality or value added teacher made a difference in a student’s future. For additional information on the study, see Anne Lowrey’s New York Times article, ”Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gain.”