Examining the Contribution of Years of Experience to Teacher Performance

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluating Teaching Programs and Teachers for Quality and Effectiveness

Abstract

Using a large-scale of quantitative data, we examined the relationships between years of experience and teacher effectiveness via five different measures: (1) state test scores, (2) observational scores, (3) teacher knowledge assessment, (4) student surveys, and (5) value-added scores, accounting for teacher characteristics in multiple models. As in prior studies, this study found that teacher effectiveness consistently increases with years of teaching experience only in state test scores. In the other measured outcomes, however, less experienced teachers showed
better performance than more experienced counterparts. These results confirmed the findings of prior studies that years of experience are not a definite indicator of teaching quality. The current policy which gives priority to teachers with more years of experience should be reconsidered.

Author

• Jeongim Jin, Arizona State University