Teacher Effectiveness in the First Grade: The Importance of Background Qualifications, Attitudes, and Instructional Practices for Student Learning

  1. 72.5% of the variance in reading and 75.3% of the variance in math achievement are between students within classrooms. Whereas only 7.4 and 7.9 percent of the variance in reading and math achievement respectively are between classrooms within schools. 20.2% of the variance in reading and 18.25 of the variance in math are between schools.
  2. Findings suggest that there is far more variance in student achievement gains between students within classrooms than between classrooms within schools or between schools.
  3. Both family SES and ethnicity are associated with achievement gains at the individual level.
  4. Proportion minority in classroom is negatively associated with reading but not mathematics scores. Mean SES of the classroom is positively associated with mean math and reading scores.
  5. Teacher background attitudes and practices also had effects on the reading scores. Certification level of teachers was positively correlated with reading scores.
  6. lReading frequently, and silent reading in the classroom were positively correlated with reading scores.