Straddling the fence: The relationship of elementary versus secondary certification on middle school teachers' beliefs, practices, and student achievement

The structure of teacher licensure in the majority of the United States leaves middle-level administrators with a dichotomous choice when hiring: chose teachers with either an elementary or a secondary certification. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential differences between elementary and secondary-certified mathematics, language arts, and science teachers at middle-level schools in the areas of (1) fit of classroom environment to the developmental needs of students; and (2) students' academic achievement levels. Specifically, the study addressed the following research questions: (1) Does the degree of stage-environment fit differ by teacher certification type? (2) Do student achievement scores differ by type of teacher certification? (3) Does student achievement growth across a one-year period differ by teacher certification type?;To evaluate these questions the researcher employed multiple methods of data collection and analysis. To assess the degree of fit between classroom environments and the developmental needs of middle school students, the researcher conducted classroom observations of middle-level teachers with elementary or secondary certifications. Running records were used to evaluate differing methods of instruction, interactions with students, and specific elements of the classroom environment within the framework of stage-environment fit theory, providing both quantitative and qualitative results. Using an ex-post facto method, the researcher analyzed the effect of teacher certification type on student standardized achievement test scores. Finally, differences between the predicted and actual proportions of student scores in standards-based achievement levels from seventh to eighth grade were compared by teacher certification type.;Analysis conducted to investigate the first research question revealed that secondary-certified mathematics teachers had significantly higher levels of stage-environment fit than their elementary-certified peers in the areas of classroom management, motivational climate, and emotional support. Observations in the secondary-certified teachers' mathematics classrooms revealed a common theme of positive support for students and an overall emphasis on student understanding. In science classrooms the elementary--certified teachers showed significantly higher levels of emotional support than secondary-certified teachers. Qualitative observations showed that elementary-certified science teachers were more emotionally responsive and had higher levels of student support and respect than secondary-certified science teachers. There were no differences found between areas of stage-environment fit for language arts teachers.;The results of the second research question revealed that the students of elementary-certified mathematics teachers scored significantly higher on tests of student achievement, while students who had secondary-certified language arts teachers scored higher on average. Secondary-certified science teachers scored the same in levels of student achievement, and had significant differences in only one area of stage-environment fit, emotional support.;Results of the third research question revealed that for elementary-certified mathematics teachers the proportions of students who scored in the highest category of achievement were lower than predicted based on seventh-grade scores. In addition, both types of language arts teachers had smaller proportions of students than expected score in the lowest achievement category.