 |
|
|
||
|
By Lisa Schencker When Ruth Harvey chose her daughter’s teacher, it had little to do with test scores or No Child Left Behind. The Crescent Elementary School parent wanted a teacher with patience for her daughter’s reading difficulties, tight classroom control and sensitivity. “She wasn’t necessarily the cuddliest teacher, but I knew she could get things done,” Harvey said. A new study co-authored by a Brigham Young University economist shows many parents feel the same way. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law demands schools perform at certain levels on math and reading tests, but often parents are more concerned with a teacher’s ability to satisfy students than to raise academic achievement, according to the study. NCLB might be missing what many parents want most, according to the study. “While achievement is important, what we’re trying to produce in schools and what parents want schools to produce is much broader than test score gains,” study co-author and BYU associate professor Lars Lefgren said. The study looked at which teachers parents in one Western U.S. school district requested and what qualities those teachers possessed according to their principals. In most schools, students are assigned to teachers, but some schools allow parents to request certain teachers. Parents who made such requests asked for teachers with high “satisfaction” ratings rather than teachers with high achievement ratings about 55 percent of the time, Lefgren said. Columbia Elementary Principal Barry Hansen said such findings bear out what he’s experienced at his own West Jordan school. “The teachers who are very good and highly requested have an even disposition and give a lot of positive incentives,” Hansen said. “A good teacher will focus on kids doing well and use them as role models.” The results were especially pronounced in schools serving wealthier areas. When given the choice between a teacher with high satisfaction ratings and an average teacher, parents in wealthier schools were likely to choose the high-satisfaction teacher 65 percent of the time. They weren’t, however, much more likely to choose a high-achieving teacher over an average one. Meanwhile, at poorer schools, the results were almost reversed. Parents at poorer schools weren’t any more likely to choose the high-satisfaction teacher over an average one. They were, however, more likely to choose a high-achieving teacher than an average one - that is, if they made requests at all. Overall, low-income, white parents were only about 60 percent as likely to request a teacher as others. Lefgren said that might be because they don’t know the system as well or feel intimidated. According to the study, the difference between the preferences of wealthier parents and low-income parents might boil down to differences between schools. Wealthier parents might be more worried about satisfaction than achievement because their children already go to schools with few academic disruptions. Likewise, parents in schools serving low-income areas might be more concerned with achievement because their schools might face more challenges, such as teachers with less experience, less money and/or lower expectations, according to the study. Despite the study’s findings about what parents want versus what NCLB expects, Lefgren said NCLB has done some good in many schools. But what works for one school might not work for another. He said if policymakers take something away from his study, it might be that NCLB isn’t one-size-fits-all. “In [some] contexts you’re going to alienate parents and get them frustrated,” Lefgren said. “Schools and administrators should have the wisdom and freedom to meet the needs of the kids they have.” The study by Lefgren and Brian Jacob of the University of Michigan is slated to appear in the new issue of Quarterly Journal of Economics. |
||||
|
|
||||