Students enrolled in lower-level math courses are less likely to have teachers with qualifications that are associated with teacher effectiveness

This study explores variation in 9th grade mathematics students’ access to qualified teachers seven years after the implementation of NCLB.

Key Findings

- Students enrolled in lower-level math courses are less likely to have teachers with qualifications that are associated with teacher effectiveness. This relationship holds even after controlling for students’ math achievement.

- Higher-achieving students have greater access to qualified teachers than their lower-achieving peers in the same school.

- This positive matching (pairing of high-achieving students to more qualified teachers) is especially strong in low-achieving schools.

Although positive matching may be considered a defensible practice to the extent that it maximizes student outcomes, inequitable access to qualified teachers to students may diminish the prospects of low-achieving 9th grade students catching up during their high school years.

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