TEACHER QUALITY FACTORS MEDIATING ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH POVERTY SCHOOLS

Abstract

The impact of poverty on student achievement was thoroughly researched. Researchers have determined that poverty has a direct negative impact on student achievement. This study analyzed four aspects of teacher quality potentially mediating the relationship between achievement and poverty. The studied variables were (a) years of experience, (b) advanced degree status, (c) highly qualified status and (d) National Board Certification. North Carolina public schools with valid End-of-Grade test data for 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 were included. Descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and the Fisher's Exact test were used to analyze the data. The Fisher's Exact Test was performed to examine the variables within a two by two framework. Twelve contingency tables were constructed to express the relationships among the variables for high poverty schools. The series of Fisher's Exact Tests indicated a significant relationship between teacher years of experience and achievement for high poverty schools for all three years of the study. The test did not indicate a significant association between advanced degree status and achievement for any of the years of the study. The test produced mixed findings for the final two variables, with one out of three years indicating a significant association between highly qualified status and achievement and two out of three years indicating a significant association between National Board Certification and achievement.