Good teachers are key to school success. Students spend most of their time with the teachers in the classroom. There are studies that show the detrimental impact of having a bad teacher on students. In the mean time, we all remember that good teacher who had a life long influence on us.
Effective principals know this as a fact and spend a lot of time in selecting the best teachers possible. It also takes a seasoned principal to identify good teachers and those candidates with potential to be a good teacher. What should a principal look for in a teacher? Here is a list of characteristics that good teachers have in common based on research. McREL researcher Bryan Goodwin identifies them in a 2010 Educational Leadership article.
• Verbal and cognitive ability – Given that teachers spend most of their time thinking on their feet and communicating with students, this is hardly surprising. One 1996 study found that teachers’ ACT scores had more influence on student achievement than the combined impact of class size and teaching experience.
• Adequate knowledge of their content area – Good teachers know their subject well, but PhD-level mastery isn’t necessary to get results.
• Pedagogical content knowledge – Teachers who know how to teach their subject well do better than those with just content knowledge.
• Belief that all students can learn – Teachers’ expectations matter.
• Belief in their own abilities – Teachers’ self-efficacy is also important.
• Ability to connect with students – Teachers’ warmth, empathy, and “non-directivity” correlates with higher student participation, motivation, and achievement.
As those above are the ones that make the most difference, some characteristics, in spite of the conventional though, do not make much difference. Those characteristics are:
• Traditional credentials – A major study comparing high-school student achievement and teachers’ credentials found little correlation. The one exception is National Board certification, which is correlated with higher achievement.
• Advanced degrees – Master’s degrees and higher are not linked to achievement; in fact, one study found a slightly negative correlation between advanced degrees and student achievement. The only exception is master’s degrees in math and science, which have a positive impact on high-school student achievement.
• Extensive classroom experience – Rookie teachers are on a steep learning curve for the first few years, but effectiveness usually reaches its peak after five years. Beyond this, additional years of experience rarely produce higher skill levels.
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