“Teaching is one of the Professions that creates all Other Professions.”

Source Unknown

Do not use test scores to identify ‘expert’ teachers. Look deeper.

Why?

Study #79, in The Science of Learning, deals with ‘Identifying Expert Teachers’ and refers to some interesting research results from a study conducted by Spillane, Shirrell and Adhikari (2018).

If teachers (or anyone that performs some form of ‘education’) play a significant role to create all other professions, it is vital that we learn how to do it better and learn from each other. The main findings of the study about ‘Expert Teachers’ can be helpful.

Spillane et al. surveyed and interviewed teachers from 14 different primary schools over a period of 5 years. The purpose of the study was to find out how teachers discern each other’s expertise.

Study #79 in The Science of Learning reports that more than 90% of the teachers, that took part in the above mentioned study, did not refer to test scores when they were asked how they would identify the best teachers amongst their colleagues.  The teachers judged their colleagues’ level of expertise on: 

• “The type of instruction they used when teaching’;
• “The sort of questions they asked students during their lessons’;
• “The organization and flow of their lessons”;
• “Their ability to generate student engagement”; and
• “Their subject knowledge”.

What is interesting is that the study shows that a teacher’s performance based on student test scores does not predict whether other colleagues will ask that teacher for advice on teaching.

Even more interesting is the fact that ‘expert teachers’, as measured by student test scores, were often more inclined to seek advice from their colleagues but they were not really sought after for their advice.

The researchers indicated that “teachers do not trust student test scores as valid measures of teacher performance in general”.

We can all learn something from the results of this study and get inspired to become more effective teachers, professionals, or parents.

I get enquiries on a regular basis from parents and other therapists, especially younger therapists. So, I have made the decision to create my next online course and to share some of my ‘expertise’ with others that would like to learn from me in the future.

What can you do to become an ‘expert’ in your field and to help create all other professions?