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Their findings Imply that the uneven distribution of teacher credentials by race and socioeconomic status of high school students, a pattern we also document, contributes to achievement gaps in high school.
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With respect to classroom characteristics, classrooms with larger percentages of nonwhite students are associated with lower test scores for individual students in those classrooms. In contrast, classrooms with high average peer achievement and classes designated as advanced are associated with higher test scores.
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There are large negative coefficients for black, “other†race and male teachers, coefficients that emerge even though we have controlled for their credentials.
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Teacher credentials are sufficiently important that they can be used as the basis for policies to improve student achievement.
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Teachers with some experience are more effective than novice teachers, but, beyond the first five years, additional experience adds little to effectiveness.
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Having a graduate degree is not predictive of higher achievement compared to having a teacher without a graduate degree.
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Black males are more than twice as likely as white females to have a teacher with low test scores.
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Findings indicate that teacher test scores are predictive of student achievement and that teacher test scores in math are particularly important for student achievement in algebra and geometry.
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Being taught by a teacher who is certified in the subject she is teaching or in a related subject leads to higher test scores.
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Teacher preparation in math has positive effects on student test scores in math.
Teachers appear to become better teachers as a result of the Board Certification process.
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The systematic differences in the distribution of teacher credentials by their students’ race, gender, and education level of parents combined with the evi- dence presented in this paper that teachers’ credentials are predictive of student achievement should be cause for serious policy concern.