PERCEIVED TEACHER EFFORT AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN READING

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between perceived teacher effort and student achievement in reading. This study was partly a replication of Blair's (1975) investigation of teacher effort-student achievement relationships in a New England school system. Blair's findings supported the theory that teacher effort in teaching is associated with student achievement in reading.;The present study was conducted with an urban nonpublic school population of students and teachers in New York State. Twenty-six principals rated their perceptions of 139 teachers' effort on "The Teacher Effort Scale in Reading." The reading scores of 2,078 third through sixth-grade students in Title 1 and Nontitle 1 schools were also examined.;The questions explored in the study were: (1) Is there a significant difference between the reading achievement scores of students in self-contained classes and a randomly chosen comparison sample of students from cross-class groups at the upper primary and middle grade levels? (2) Is there a significant difference between the reading achievement scores of upper primary and middle grade students? (3)Is there a significant difference between the reading achievement scores of students of high effort and low effort teachers at the upper primary and middle grade levels? (4)Is there a significant difference between the reading achievement scores of students in Title 1 and Nontitle 1 schools? Will there be significant differences between the scores of students of high effort and low effort teachers within Title 1 and Nontitle 1 schools?;A four-way analysis of covariance tested the significance of differences and interaction effects of the dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable was the students' 1979 SRA reading achievement scores; the independent variables were class organization, grade level, teacher effort and student SES. The two covariates were the 1978 SRA scores and years of teacher experience.;The findings of the data analysis indicated no statistically significant difference between the reading achievement scores of students in self-contained classes and the cross-class comparison sample. There was a significant difference between the reading scores of upper primary and middle grade students. High teacher effort in teaching reading, as described through principals' ratings, was statistically significant in fostering higher student reading scores especially at the middle grade level where the greater positive effect was observed. The negative effects of low effort teaching were more pronounced at the upper primary grade level. There was a statistically significant difference between the reading scores of Title 1 and Nontile 1 students. In addition, there was a significant difference between the scores of students of high effort and low effort teachers within the Title 1 sample only. The covariate, years of teacher experience, was significant in its relationship to students' achievement scores.;The findings of the study have suggested that teacher effort in reading is consistently associated with student achievement. These results lend additional credibility to theories that emphasize the importance of the teacher variable in reading. Thus, the study has important implications for the selection and training of teachers.