An examination of the relationship between the type of teacher certification of middle school teachers and student math, reading, and writing achievement

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of middle school teacher certification on student performance on the 8th grade Alaska Benchmark Exam (ABE) in math, reading, and writing. The essence of the study was to look at the standards used to measure teacher quality particularly in light of No Child Left Behind and the law's requirement for highly qualified teachers. The requirements emphasize teacher preparation in a core content area and a certificate from a State agency or experience teaching and professional development through High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation requirements established by individual states.; The research was guided by two questions: (a) Does the type of middle school 10 teacher certification influence middle school students' ABE scores in math, reading and writing? (b) Does student gender, student ethnicity, SES status, school location, teacher experience, and teacher preparation affect students' ABE scores. Three groups of students were identified: (a) students who were enrolled in classes of teachers with K--8 elementary certification for 7th and 8th grade, (b) a mixed group with one school year of each type of certification, and (c) students who were enrolled in classes of teachers with 7--12 core content certification for 7th and 8th grade. The final group of students for analysis resulted in 1964 students in the math group and 1995 students in the language arts group. A total of 204 middle school teachers were participants in the research. Logistic regression analysis determined the predictability of variables.; The study found that the type of teacher certification made a difference, particularly for students in math and reading. Students who had teachers with a 7--12 math certification for two years were twice as likely to pass the ABE in math. Analysis of the sub groups indicated varying effects. Of the subgroups, ethnicity, SES, and teacher experience had the strongest predictability of students' ABE scores. Teacher preparation was a stronger predictor for 8th grade students than 7th grade in math and reading. In this study, the results were more significant for math and reading scores than for writing.