Candidate: Xuejin Lu

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Teaching, Learning and Leadership

Title:Teacher Quality and Teacher Preparedness of Scondary Public School Teachers: Evidence from SASS 1999-2000

Committee: Dr. Sue Poppink, Chair
Dr. Jianping Shen
Dr. Mozhdeh Bruss

Date: Thursday, November 3, 2005 10:15 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.
3514 Sangren Hall

Abstract: In this study I inquired into the quality of public secondary school teachers by examining what percentages of teachers were highly qualified in the fields of their main teaching assignment and in each specific field they taught. The focus was placed on the core academic fields (English, social studies, math, and science) and the subfields of science (chemistry, physics, earth science, and physical science). I also investigated whether there were possible variations in the distribution of highly qualified teachers by school locations and by the percentages of minority student enrollment in schools. Furthermore, I examined the relationship between the quality of new secondary school teachers and their perceptions on their preparation for teaching.

In this study, a highly qualified teacher had the following characteristics: holding at least a bachelor's degree, a full state certification, and an undergraduate or graduate major in the subject taught. I analyzed data extracted from the 1999–2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) for public school teachers. Descriptive statistics was used to identify the percentages of highly qualified teachers in the subjects taught. Chi-Square tests were employed to examine the distribution of highly qualified teachers. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine the relationship between the quality of new teachers and their perceptions on their preparedness.

Results revealed that the percentages of highly qualified teachers in the core academic fields, especially in the subfields of sciences, were far from satisfactory. Overall more than one-forth of the teachers were not highly qualified in their main assignment fields. Teachers who were not highly qualified in the subfields of science were found with a range from 52 percent to 84 percent. Urban schools and schools with a higher percentage of minority students were much less likely to have highly qualified teachers. New teachers who were highly qualified in the subject taught felt better prepared than those who were not highly qualified. The findings suggest that the situation of teacher quality in secondary schools is posing a serious challenge for implementing the NCLB's mandate of highly qualified teachers by 2006. Furthermore, the findings seem to raise an equity issue in staffing schools.

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