Economic Scene - Study Rethinks Importance of Kindergarten Teachers - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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By junior high and high school, children who had excellent early schooling do little better on tests than similar children who did not — which raises the demoralizing question of how much of a difference schools and teachers can make.
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“We don’t really care about test scores. We care about adult outcomes.”
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Classes with 13 to 17 students did better than classes with 22 to 25. Peers also seem to matter.
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Good early education can impart skills that last a lifetime — patience, discipline, manners, perseverance
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teachers. Some are highly effective. Some are not. And the differences can affect students for years to come.
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Schools can also make sure standardized tests are measuring real student skills and teacher quality, as teachers’ unions have urged.
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"A Tennessee experiment found that some teachers were able to help students learn vastly more than other teachers. The effect largely disappeared by junior high, based on test scores. Yet for the the students in adulthood, it was discovered that the legacy of kindergarten had re-emerged. Students who had learned much more in kindergarten were more likely to go to college than students with otherwise similar backgrounds." -
