Child Development And The Curriculum

Seventy-five years of research in the area of teacher effectiveness have failed to yield sound predictive information about teaching success. Several explanations are offered in this paper for observed discrepant and null findings. Commonly employed predictor variables may be unrelated to teacher effectiveness: consideration is given to the appropriate choice of predictor variables and concern expressed regarding the emphasis of research on the affective as opposed to the cognitive domain. Nevertheless, it is stressed that this explanation remains untested because of the following points: (1) The criterion variable may be unstable, invalid or inappropriate; in particular, it is argued that, while presage and process variables may be appropriately employed as predictors of teacher effectiveness, if tautologies are to be avoided, only product variables are valid as direct criteria for the assessment of effective teaching. (2) The influence of a particular variable may differ according to situation, for instance, according to grade level or subject matter taught. Arising from discussion of these points, some recommendations regarding future research are offered.