In recent years, a consensus has emerged among researchers that teacher quality matters enormously for student performance. Students taught by more-effective teachers learn substantially more over the course of the year than students taught by less-effective teachers. Yet little is known about what makes for a more-effective teacher. Most research…

High-stakes tests take time away from valuable learning activities, narrow the focus of instruction, and imply that science involves memorizing details rather than understanding the natural world. Current tests lead precollege instructors to postpone science inquiry activities until after the last standardized test is completed--often during the…

Recent studies conclude that teachers are important for student learning but it remains uncertain what actually determines effective teaching. This study directly peers into the black box of educational production by investigating the relationship between lecture style teaching and student achievement. Based on matched student-teacher data for the…

Tests the learning-loss scale experimentally to examine the relationship between students' reports of their own learning and their performance on a standard exam. Identifies a moderately strong validity coefficient between students' performance on a recall test and reports of how much they believed they learned during a lecture. (SR)

The present study used data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 to look at the trend in instructional strategies in science teaching and its effect on the science achievement. Based on the analysis, the strategies used by most science teachers were demonstration, practical work and the lecture method. Among…