Teacher Autonomy Perspectives in Education

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Division K Section 5 Poster Session 1

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to review arguments around teacher autonomy and to investigate the extent that teacher autonomy, in pedagogy and assessment, may be linked to student achievement. To this end, this paper presents a preliminary descriptive statistical analysis that highlights the effects of teacher autonomy on student outcomes on PISA scores in the United States. I find that when teachers have both the responsibility of deciding the course and student assessment, US students perform better than international students, implying that teacher autonomy is important in the US context. This paper raises a larger issue around whether effects of reduction in teacher autonomy in some national contexts are more pronounced and deleterious.

Author

• Daman Chhikara, Michigan State University