The impact of good teaching on student achievement
For well over a decade the research has consistently indicated that an individual classroom teacher can have a positive, powerful effect on the learning of his or her students (Marazno and Toth 2013). Murphy (2013) concurs, stating that the large impact a good teacher can make on a pupil’s academic outcomes is now well established. He cites a number of studies in support of this assertion. (Aaronson, Barrow, and Sander, 2007, Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain, 2005 and Rockoff 2004). The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), (2005) report that raising teaching performance is the policy direction most likely to lead to substantial gains in student learning. Years of research on teacher quality, support the fact that effective teachers not only make students feel good about school and learning, but also that their work actually results in increased student achievement (Tucker and Stronge 2005). In a large-scale study, Wright et al (1997, p.63) concluded that “the most important factor affecting student learning is the teacher”. The inverse is also true. The findings of the Dallas Public School Accountability System noted that the negative effect of poor teaching was discernible statistically for approximately three subsequent years. (cited in Tucker and Stronge 2005 p.5). Marshall (2013) cites another eleven studies which document the positive relationship between the quality of instruction and student achievement; the supporting evidence is overwhelming.