The article reviews the research on teacher effectiveness and develops the case for a model of teacher effectiveness in which differential effectiveness is incorporated. Five problems with current concepts of teacher effectiveness are identified: undue influence of available techniques upon the concept; emphasis on school, to the detriment of teacher, effectiveness; tenuous relationship to teacher improvement; narrowness of operational definitions in research; and the development of generic, rather than differentiated, models. In addition the failure of existing models to explain variance in pupil outcome at the classroom level, the neglect of teacher self-evaluation, and the restricted measures of pupil outcomes are noted. A differential model is proposed incorporating five dimensions of difference. These refer to teacher activity, outside as well as inside the classroom; curriculum subject; pupil background factors; pupil personal characteristics; cultural and organisational contexts of teaching. The developmental functions of such a model for research and for teacher appraisal are explored. Four problems for implementing a differentiated model are raised: complexity, stakeholder expectations, values, and policy acceptability. These are considered in the light of the controversial Hay McBer model in England and of models developed in Europe and the USA in the early decades of the last century.
Differential Teacher Effectiveness: Towards a model for research and teacher appraisal
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related Research Data
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.