Education and Teaching Years of Experience and Teacher Effectiveness

EDUCATION AND TEACHING

Education and Teaching: Teacher Effectiveness and Years of Experience

Literature Review

It has been well-observed that parents like to have their child admitted to a school or college whose teachers are hardworking and have the experience of teaching a class effectively. The teacher effectiveness could be gauged based on the students’ achievements academically. The following literature review provides an insight over the previously published articles relevant to the topic that whether teachers’ effectiveness is increased with their years of experience in teaching.

Research has shown that teachers’ years of experience have helped in improving their teaching quality, ultimately resulting in better student grades. For this, a study was conducted among 18 preparatory year teachers, 28 teachers taking classes of grade 1, 20 teachers of grade 2, and 14 teachers teaching grade 3 (Graham et al., 2020). The sample of these teachers was taken from primary schools in Queensland, Australia that had students enrolled in each school from 210 to 760 in number. It was also taken into account while extracting the sample that all teachers held Masters’ degrees along with a mean teaching experience of 9.23 years. The data collection took place in the form of observations through classroom interactions annually. A standardized tool was developed to record the classroom evaluations, named as Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). The observation time in each class was for 30 minutes. For making authentic observations, assistance from a team of certified observers was taken who observed Prep to Grade 3 classes for two hours on the whole. An addition of a certified K-3 CLASS trainer was felt mandatory as well since consistency was to be maintained for the first 10 observations cycles of 30 minutes each. The entire process of observations was completed within two months with a grouping of three domains and ten dimensions. For data analysis, statistical tools were used using SPSS. Descriptive statistics involved CLASS domains, enlisted as emotional support, instructional support, and classroom organization. The results revealed that out of 80 teacher participants, the majority of them scored highest on emotional support and classroom management while a lesser score was seen for instructional support. Also, the findings were consistent with the previous literature that the beginning years of experience (0-3 years) and experienced teaching (more than 3 years) are not related to three domains or 10 dimensions identified by the CLASS measure. It was even interesting to find that during the beginning years of teaching experience, it is not necessary that teachers’ ability to teach the class and their quality would be inferior. However, the findings did suggest that the placement of teachers based on the content, certification, and presence of high-quality mentoring would improve their teaching quality. This is an indication that high scores on emotional support and classroom management are supportive of these qualities. On the whole, it is believed that Australian teachers are poor in managing the class but scoring high on classroom organization means that teaching experience should be combined with professional development in this specific domain behavior management might direct to an enhancement in teaching quality that could be multidimensional when positive academic results would be achieved.

Another study claimed that the previously held belief of increase in teaching experience and its relationship with teaching effectiveness could be confused (Irvine, 2019). This relationship was questioned while making Canadian policies of hiring teachers based on their teaching history on the lines of students’ achievements. The relationship was found to be complex as well as nuanced only if it was to be measured against students’ academic achievements. The article provides scrutiny of Ontario Regulation 274 as the teacher hiring practices within Ontario, Canada needed to be revised for only basing them on teachers’ previous experience. In the province of Ontario, the advertisements for hiring teachers for new vacancies asked for previous teaching experience within a specific district and jurisdiction. When substitute teachers were hired, they did have qualifications and some experience but were not handed the responsibility of long-term planning save lesson plans. Later, the Ontario government showed concern over the process of hiring teachers since it was a likelihood that it would lead to partiality or nepotism. To look into this matter to tackle it, regulation 274 was formulated in which substitute teachers could apply for long-term occasional (LTO) positions. For being eligible for LTO positions, the substitute teachers need to complete one out of four assignments within a time period of four months at least. The top five teachers scoring the highest on LTO terms could be hired easily for the job position. It did not restrict them based on previous teaching experience, hence, not implying that this criterion would ensure teacher’s effectiveness. There were numerous oppositions against this regulation since school administrators were of the view that interviews would help better in determining which schools teachers were the best fit. Besides, the actual study was conducted within this article aiming to answer the research question of whether teacher experience had a relationship with teaching effectiveness. There were three elements on whose grounds teacher effectiveness is measured: value-added measures, classroom observations, and surveys like student, peer, or administrator responses. The concluding remarks revealed that there is scarce evidence that teacher quality certifies student academic achievement. A notable argument was presented that with the growing diversity in the student body of schools and colleges, the diverse background teachers also need a part of teaching staff that does not require teaching experience but diversely cultured professionalism, a major factor for diverse ethnic students for their academic success.

Similar scholarly writing also supports the idea that a teacher’s experience could be one of many factors for gaining positive student outcomes, referring to teaching quality (Burroughs et al., 2019). The article reflects upon a plethora of literature studies in which teachers’ experience and teacher quality have been explored. It was emphasized that the general construct of ‘teacher quality’ has been undermined in several studies that were set on the lines of experience, learning opportunities, and professional knowledge. Most of the studies included in the literature review analysis of this article were from the US context and indicated five measures on which student outcomes or teaching quality was gauged: number of years teaching has been continued, education, self-reported preparation about the content of teaching, the time given for content coverage and problem-solving in Math. Numerous studies conducted have identified student outcomes as a cumulative outcome of teaching experience. Still, there has been very little evidence that there is a statistically significant or linear relationship between teachers’ experience and student outcomes or teaching quality. Research from the United States has specifically cited that teachers’ experience and knowledge gained from years of hard work was the sole certifier of student outcomes but now it has been challenged. In terms of professional knowledge, on-the-job training and graduate degrees acquired from renowned colleges also accounted for teachers’ quality and student outcomes formerly. Some of the studies included in this analysis also stated that reading and math achievements were strongly correlated to teachers’ certification and preparation of the content. Although poverty level, diverse ethnic backgrounds, language status, and parents support were kept aside for student outcomes; however, these factors are now being gaining the spotlight in terms of academic outcomes. It has been realized affirmatively that only a teacher’s experience does not guarantee teaching quality or student outcomes.

Much of the research is based in the US, another article talks about the existence of the relationship between teaching experience and teaching effectiveness. A critical literature review based on 30 published studies since the year 2003 claimed to analyze the effect of teaching experience when student outcomes in the US were observed (Podolsky, Kini & Darling-Hammond, 2019). Two hypotheses were developed to be answered through the literature review analysis. The hypotheses involved investigating whether teaching experience influenced the effectiveness of teaching effectiveness and how long should be this experience to gain the said effectiveness. For targeting this objective, studies that analyzed the teaching experience among students’ outcomes of K-12 public schools. The student standardized scores and non-test metrics were used to check whether effectiveness has been witnessed or not. The prevalence of teacher fixed effects was more evident through the year 2003, and it is for this reason that the studies from this year were taken. Three search engines were used for extracting the required articles, ranging from 2003 through 2016. The search terms were identified for the inclusion basis and the final number of articles that were found relevant was 24,540. With such a huge number of studies, the literature analysis was a challenge that had to be shortlisted. The articles were again sorted into inclusion criteria of peer-reviewed articles, studies conducted in the US only, focusing on the teaching experience, method explanation for the conduction of study involving variable control, and excluding those studies that contained teaching experience as an incidental variable. The results indicated that most of the studies confirmed the relationship between teaching experience and student outcomes as they showed high standardized test scores. The teacher fixed effect was a prominent player in determining that teaching experience gives better student results, showing higher teaching effectiveness. It is thought-provoking to note that the teacher’s effectiveness was noted to be better during the early years of teaching when they were fresh in the field and enthusiastic about their careers. Though their initial gains are meaningful, as time passes they show even better classroom academic improvements when they professionally gain experience. The experience may be fortified through professional development and gaining knowledge from the practical classroom experiences, creating a difference from what they were at point zero and when they would be after five years, for example. Also, the literature review analysis declared that after the first decade of teaching experience, the teachers continue to provide effectiveness through value-added student outcomes. Specifically, the reading and math subjects have provided better student grades in public elementary schools even in the second and third decades of teaching experience. However, there were a few studies that showed different results in the literature analysis based on the type of methodology they utilized and the nature of student gains they prioritized. It was found in them that the returns to teaching experience started to fade away after the 28th year of experience in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). These studies mentioned that student gains were set on the lines of student absenteeism and classroom behaviors, leading to better academic achievements, resultantly teaching effectiveness. Besides, the type of experience that defined the entire teaching experience included two dimensions: experience gained while working in a corroborative professional working environment and experience gained in the same subject or grade level within the same district. It is definitely certified that teachers gain more experience when they are working in an assistive working environment for the same subject, same grade, and same district.

One of the recent studies cited that the academic qualification of teachers and their prior teaching experience matters for the student outcomes and interest in Accounting (Muhammad, 2021). The study was conducted in Zaria, Kaduna state. The sample population was from NCE II students studying in the Business Education Department within the Federal College of Education. Two hypotheses were formed based on the elements of teachers’ qualifications and experience that might correlate with students’ outcomes in Accounting. The study was based on a survey research design conducted among the students and lecturers. 204 NCE students and 10 lecturers were selected for this purpose. The survey was formulated based on the Students’ Interest in Accounting Questionnaire (SIMQ) that had two sections. The first section consisted of data about student demographics while the second section discussed students’ perceptions and attitudes regarding their interest in Accounting and their outcomes. Another type of survey was used to check the student-teacher relationship which was to be filled by the students again, called the Students’ Questionnaire on Teacher-Student Relationship (SQTSR). It had similar two sections: the first section for demographic variables and the second section for gauging certain aspects of student and teacher relationships. Teacher Classroom Observation Form (TCOF) and Accounting Achievement Test (AAT) were also additional surveys for the inclusion of teaching practices, pedagogical knowledge about accounting and accounting subject gains among the students. It was discovered that the independent variables that comprised of teacher qualifications, experience, and their mutual relationship when combined in an amalgamation to check their effect on the Accounting grades, the impact was positive. It certainly did guarantee in this article that there was a significant contribution of teachers’ qualifications and experience on the teaching quality among Accounting students. Further recommendations were presented that teachers should be involved in continuous professional development so that enhanced Accounting subject gains should be obtained. The reason that Accounting was focused for this study is that the subject within the selected educational institute where students showed poor performance. For this objective, the teachers are advised to attend seminars and workshops for staying upgraded in the relevant field. With regular monitoring and advice from their superiors, it would be deemed better for the teachers to strengthen their students’ skills in the subject along with a strong bond that would help the students come to teachers for problem-solving and support.