This study investigates the relationship between measures of mathematics teacher skill and student achievement in California high schools. Test scores are analyzed in relation to teacher experience and education and student demographics. The results are consistent with the hypotheses that there is a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in California and that this shortage is associated with low student scores in mathematics. After controlling for poverty, teacher experience and preparation significantly predict test scores. Short-term strategies to increase the supply of qualified mathematics teachers could include staff development, and recruitment incentives. A long-term strategy addressing root causes of the shortage requires more emphasis on mathematics in high school and undergraduate programs.
Using the results of the statewide California Assessment Program, this study of over 10,000 sixth-graders finds that heavy television viewing affects school achievement most significantly for students who are more socially aduantaged.The ubiquity of television in the United States is proverbial. Even so, only modest effects of television on student achievement have been documented, many of which diminish once intelligence is taken into account (8). The very pervasiveness that makes television an attractive research topic also makes it difficult to study. Experimental and statistical controls for program content, amount of viewing, and theoretically interesting background variables, such as social class and intelligence, are difficult to implement. Longitudinal studies that permit the monitoring of academic growth and viewing habits over a period of years (1,9) are rare.
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