Connecting Research and Practice through Teacher Knowledge

2015 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. There is evidence that a teacher is the most influential factor upon a students success, or lack thereof, in school in the United States: The teachers influence on student achievement is 20 times greater than any other variable (EdTrust Good Teaching Matters, 1998); Evidence shows clearly what most people know intuitively: Teachers matter more to learning than anything else inside a school (Learning About Teaching, MET Project, 2011). So what does it take to be a good teacher? A growing body of research indicates there is a science to good teaching that requires knowledgeable teachers who are prepared with an understanding of evidence-based, or research-based, instructional practices. Simply put, good teacher knowledge is correlated with good classroom instruction, and good classroom instruction is correlated with higher levels of student achievement (McCutchen, Abbott, Green, Beretvas, Cox, Potter et al., 2002a; Moats & Foorman, 2003; Piasta, McDonald, Fishman, & Morrison, 2009; Spear-Swerling & Brucker, 2004).

Connecting Research and Practice through Teacher Knowledge Chapter