A new value-added study in Louisiana has found that teachers certified under non-traditional programs, The New Teacher Project's training program in particular, are more likely to be effective. The New York Times editorial board thinks this is great news--and perhaps a model for other states.
A taste from TNTP's press release:
The state-sponsored study, led by researcher Dr. George Noell of Louisiana State University, uses a "value-added" model to measure the effect that teachers from the state's preparation programs have on student achievement. ??The study examined seven programs, including both university-based certification pathways and alternate routes to teacher certification such as TNTP's program.?? Each was given a performance rating based on an "effect estimate" of the teachers they produce.
TNTP's Louisiana Practitioner Teacher Program earned especially strong results in the preparation of effective math teachers, with a mathematics effect estimate of 3.1.????This effect estimate is greater than the average degree to which poor students typically fall further behind each year in achievement. "In the year that new TNTP teachers teach poor students, they, on average, help those students close the math academic gap with more economically advantaged students," said Dr. Noell. This is especially noteworthy because virtually all LPTP teachers work in high-poverty schools, where students are normally more than twice as likely to have unqualified math teachers as more affluent students.
Check back for more of our thoughts on Monday.
