The relationship between graduate teaching assistant instructor expertise and algebra performance of college students

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between level of GTA instructional expertise, amount of GTA teaching experience, and academic performance of their college algebra students measured by course grades. College algebra grades for all students in classes taught by GTAs over six years and 43 sections were analyzed (n = 2198). The treatment group was 21 sections of college algebra students (n = 1041) taught by GTAs who were trained. The control group used for comparison consisted of 22 sections of college algebra students (n = 1157) taught by GTAs who were not trained. Of the 2198 participants, 1528 (69.5%) completed college algebra and 670 (30.5%) withdrew from college algebra. The course grades were divided into two data sets and subjected to analyses for those students who completed the course and for those that withdrew.;The most salient result of the present study pertained to withdraws from college algebra. A chi-square analysis indicated there was a statistically significant relationship between Trained (Yes or No) and Years (1 or 2) on withdraws from college algebra. The data indicate that GTAs with two years of training and two years of experience had significantly fewer students withdraw from their courses than GTAs in their first year of teaching or GTAs that were not trained. Of the students who withdrew from college algebra, only 8.8% withdrew from classes taught by GTAs who were trained and in their second year of teaching.;Noteworthy in the present study is the fact that success in lowering the drop rate in the treatment group occurred when students were drawn from the same pool, exposed to the same content at the same pace, and followed the same placement scheme as students in the control group. In addition, the design of the research had controls in place to extract any influence of prior math knowledge.;Results of the present study indicate that a well-planned program of support and professional development for graduate students in the role of teaching assistants combined with experience appears be a major factor in improving academic persistence for students in college algebra.