University; Farohki is Coordinator, Curriculum and Scheduling, Georgia State University. any studies have been conducted and papers writ-<~ ~N ten regarding the academic ability of preservice and inservice teachers. Vance and Schlechty (1982) and Weaver (1979) concluded that teaching attracts students of low academic ability and fails to attract brighter students. A review of the research led Lanier. and Little (1986) to conclude that teaching does attract and retain persons with high ability but that teachers are underrepresented in the upper quintile of academic talent and overrepresented in the lower quintile. Not all the findings regarding the academic abilities of teachers are negative. Several studies conducted at individual institutions have shown that education students compare favorably with other students (Fisher and Feldman, 1985;Guyton and Farokhi, 1985;Savage, 1983;Olsen, 1985).Recent national reports also have focused on this area. A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), High School (Boyer, 1983) and High School and Beyond (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1980) are reports that question the academic qualities of teachers. In addition, they assume that better academic qualifications make better teachers and call for higher standards for entry into teacher education and the teaching profession.The assumption that a strong relationship exists between academic quality as defined by the use of such variables as GPA, test scores, and basic skills and good teaching are accepted widely. Hyman (1984) summarizes the logic of teacher testing as: &dquo;Those who pass the test will be more effective teachers than those who do not&dquo; (p. 14). Nelson and Wood (1985) elaborate on this notion: If prospective teachers are recruited from among the academically-best of high school graduates; if they perform well in university courses; if they possess basic skills competency and are educated extensively in their academic disciplines; and if they are placed in schools under the guidance of master teachers, highly competent teachers will emerge. (p. 46) The fact that this assumption exists is borne out by the widespread interest in and actuality of teacher competency testing (Sandefur, 1985;King, Stahl, and Brozo, 1985).
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