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Teacher Quality, Opportunity Gap, and National Achievement in 46 Countries

Assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri, Columbia, 202 Hill Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; akibam{at}missouri.edu. Her research interests include teacher quality and learning, multicultural teacher education, and school safety

Gerald K. LeTendre

Professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Pennsylvania State University, 310G Rackley, University Park, PA 16802; letendre{at}psu.edu. His research focuses on global trends in teacher working conditions and the diffusion and institutionalization of drug prevention programs in public schools worldwide

Jay P. Scribner

Associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Missouri, 202 Hill Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; scribnerj{at}missouri.edu. His research interests include organizational learning, professional development, and teacher quality

The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data from 46 countries showed that, although the national level of teacher quality in the United States was similar to the international average, the opportunity gap in students’ access to qualified teachers between students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) was among the largest in the world. Cross-national analyses revealed that the countries with better teacher quality produced higher mathematics achievement. However, larger opportunity gaps in access to qualified teachers did not predict larger achievement gaps between high-SES and low-SES students cross-nationally. These analyses provide empirical, cross-national evidence of the importance of investing in teacher quality for improving national achievement. National policies and practices related to improving teacher quality appear to be a promising area for future research to identify how other countries have achieved both excellence and equity in student achievement.

Key Words: comparative study • teacher quality • TIMSS

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