Research finds no ‘silver bullet’ to good teaching

By FREDREKA SCHOUTEN
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Most researchers agree that high-quality teaching can help students excel. But what exactly makes a good teacher?

That's what a school district in Chattanooga, Tenn., and a nonprofit education foundation have teamed up to find out in a new, in-depth study of almost 100 high-performing teachers. The study is part of a determined campaign by this community along the Tennessee River to improve the quality of teachers who serve the county's poorest children.

"The single most important factor (in student achievement) is the person in front of that kid," said Ray Swoffard, assistant superintendent of urban education for Hamilton County Public Schools.

Local officials realized — after the nine elementary schools that serve black and low-income students in inner-city Chattanooga turned up on the state's list of failing schools — that children from the county's lowest-income families were in classrooms staffed by the least-qualified teachers.

Those inequities inspired the Public Education Foundation to launch a study last year to identify the traits shared by local teachers who have the most success boosting student achievement.

"Most people want to hear that good teachers have 11 fingers," joked Dan Challener, the foundation's president.
It's not that simple, his researchers have found.
But the group says its work has helped celebrate strong teachers, and create a network of stars to serve as mentors for those just entering the profession.

The foundation is doing more research.

"We don't want to pretend that we have found the silver bullet," Challener said.

So far, the foundation has interviewed and videotaped more than 90 high-performing teachers. They learned that those teachers:

- Tend to have slightly more experience than the school district's average.

- Were attracted to teaching in their teens. Most — 85 percent
— were classroom teachers by the age of 25.

- Set high expectations for students.

- Avoid sitting in front of the class and delivering boring lectures. Instead, they move through the classroom while students work in small groups on multiple activities.
William Sanders, a former University of Tennessee researcher, said the most successful teachers seem to be able to tailor instruction to match each child's abilities.

"They are teaching to the child, rather than teaching to a group of children,'' Sanders said.

Sanders has found that the highest-performing teachers produce academic gains among students with a broad range of achievement.

A case in point: Andrea Johnson, 30, one of Chattanooga's teaching superstars.

For seven years, Johnson taught language arts at a predominantly black and poor middle school. Test score data show most of her students make one-and-a-half year's academic gain during a typical school year.

Her teaching secret: Johnson said she learns about each child's strengths and weaknesses and tries to teach "on an individual basis." And Johnson said she never lowers expectations just because most of her students come from poor families.

Less successful teachers are more likely to take the attitude, "I know you weren't able to do your homework last night because there was a fight down the street, so I'm going to let you slide," Johnson said.

"I say there is no sliding. Those things are going to happen. I can't change those things, but I can teach you. ... Education is your only way out."

Research shows that good teaching takes more than high expectations.

Sanders' research in Tennessee during the 1990s found that teachers who have taught for 10 or 11 years are more effective than beginning teachers. Studies also show that the best teachers have mastered their subject matter and perform well on verbal and math tests.

For instance, students whose teachers majored in math or math education in college scored higher on federal math tests in 2000 than students whose teachers did not major in those fields.

In Chattanooga, between 30 percent and 50 percent of the teachers at six of the city's nine low-performing schools during the 2001-02 school year had no more than three years of experience, according to the foundation's research.

"These students already came into school behind," Mayor Bob Corker said. "And then they went to schools where people teach for two or three years and transfer to the suburbs."

Johnson said she has never considered leaving the inner city.

"I need challenge," she said. "You're not making a difference until you're able to make a difference in a child that needs you the most."