Do happy teachers deliver higher student achievement? Or is it the other way around?
In Austin, Texas, an internal study shows teachers’ opinions of their school’s environment and student behavior were “the two most important factors in predicting state standardized test scores,” reports the Austin American-Statesman.
Other factors such as the percentage of students from low-income families, teachers’ years of experience and parents’ opinions of a school showed some correlation with Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills performance. But teachers’ ratings of school environment and of student behavior seemed to be the strongest indicators of high scores.
“Knowing that those two variables are closely related to student performance, we know that those are two areas where we need to push,” Claudia Tousek, the district’s interim chief academic officer told the paper, which notes that researchers cannot say whether high TAKS scores are caused by good campus environments and well-behaved students.
Perhaps not, but every high-functioning school I’ve ever set foot in has a warm, calm, purposeful environment. Perhaps it is possible to deliver good scores in schools marked by chaos and student discipline problems.
Know any?
Now that this research exists and proves the connection between student achievement and happy teachers; lets take it a step further and use my action research project called The Happy Teacher Campaign.com to promote equal team communication to achieve academic excellence. I am looking for a pilot program right now. If you know a school district wanting to set the standard for excellence, please contact me at thtc@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks for promoting The Happy Teacher Campaign!!!