Evaluating the Relationship Between Teacher Professional Development and Student Achievement on NAEP Civics

• In Event: 52.083 - Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 52.083-8 - Finding Answers: Using NAEP Data to Guide Research

Abstract

This study focuses on the relationship between the amount and form of teacher professional development participation and student achievement on the 2010 NAEP 8th grade civics assessment. Teacher professional development participation was significantly related to student achievement in civics; a student with teacher in the 75th percentile scored on average 0.07 standard deviations higher than a student with a teacher in the 25th percentile. However, there were no differences between forms of professional learning. Both traditional and communities of practice forms of professional learning were significantly related to student achievement and the effect sizes were almost identical. These findings suggest that teacher professional development participation holds some promise as a way of improving student achievement in civics.

Author

• Joshua Littenberg-Tobias, Massachusetts Institute of Technology