Date
5-2004
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Primary Subject Area
Education, Administration; Education, Curriculum and Instruction; Education, Teacher Training; Education, Tests and Measurements
Recommended Citation
Andrews, Jill Lambert, "Teacher Certification, Teaching Style, and Student Achievement In Arizona Charter Schools" (2004). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 178.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/178
Abstract
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002 mandated teacher certification criteria and accountability for student academic growth for all public schools, including charter schools. At the time of this study, Arizona had 464 charter schools and was one of three states and the District of Columbia that did not require charter schools to employ certified teachers. This quantitative study examined the effect of teacher certification status on student reading achievement and the relationship between teaching style and student reading achievement in Arizona charter schools. Thirty-nine subjects, selected from a convenience sampling, were third through sixth grade Arizona charter school teachers. Twenty-two of said subjects did not hold an Arizona teaching ce11ificate and 17 subjects did hold valid Arizona teaching certificates. The teacher-subjects completed Grasha's Teaching Style Inventory to detel111ine their predominant teaching style. Reading achievement scores used were the teachers' class average, spring 2003; reading percentile results as measured by the state required Stanford 9 Achievement Test (SAT9). This study found no significant effect of teacher certification status on student reading achievement. The predominant teaching style for these chal1er school teachers was Facilitator, as indicated by scores on the Teaching Style Inventory. There was no significant correlation between teaching style and teachers' class average percentile reading achievement scores as measured by the SAT9. The findings of this study suggest that there appears to be no need for the NCLB Act to require ce11ification for Arizona chal1er school teachers and that growth in student achievement scores, as required by NCLB, will rely upon identifying variables other than teacher ce11ification status or teaching style.
