Is Teacher Accountability Possible? The Case of Norwegian High School Science

Abstract

What influence does the teacher exercise over their students' learning outcomes? This study investigates the impact of teacher quality on student learning outcomes in science halfway through the first year of high school. A multiple‐measurement model estimates the potential impact of teacher influence on learning outcomes for 1,060 secondary school students (16‐year‐olds), as well as the influence on student engagement, motivation, and self‐discipline. Teacher quality has a very weak effect on student learning outcomes. However, teacher quality seems to influence student motivation and self‐discipline to a significantly larger extent. Further, there is an indirect effect of teacher quality on learning outcomes in science via student engagement, motivation, and self‐discipline. Holding the science teacher accountable for pupils' learning outcomes is highly problematic.

Keywords:

• accountability
• teacher behavior
• classroom interaction
• student–teacher relationship

Notes

¹International large‐scale studies, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), show that students attending lower secondary school in Norway score high in the category of disorder and disruption (OECD, 2001).

² http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/smk/Statsministerens-kontor/Statsminister_Jens_Stoltenberg/Taler-og-artikler/2008/Nyttarstale-2008.html?id=495221

³National tests and other tests are possible tools which make the teacher responsible for the learning outcomes; however, a value‐added model of measuring provides a more precise tool than raw test scores. This kind of value‐added measure at the teacher level is not currently available.

⁴One possible explanation of teacher accountability is that “annual student learning gains can be attributed to the individual teacher” (Valli et al., 2007, p. 635).

⁵PISA obtains no data from teachers because “Those responsible for PISA did not wish to provide another international study that concludes that teachers make no difference, when the data available in such studies cannot appropriately address the question” (McGaw, 2008a, p. 238).

⁶The intake point score is calculated as the sum of 11 marks after the 10^th grade (scale from 1 to 6).

⁷In order for our survey to be approved by Norsk samfunnsvitenskapelig datatjeneste we had to exclude any possibility of loss of anonymity on the part of students.