Teacher Characteristics and the Achievement of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

In today's climate of school accountability, the consequences of failing to meet state and federal requirements are too great to ignore. Schools are under pressure to find ways to make all students successful or face the prospects of increasingly punitive measures. Schools find it especially difficult to be successful with students with disabilities and, in many instances, by the performance of that subgroup fall short of meeting annual goals.

The role of the teacher in the success of students is well documented. Policymakers and legislators alike recognize the value of the effective teacher and have taken steps to ensure that all students receive instruction in core subjects from highly qualified teachers. That an effective teacher is important appears unquestioned; however, how to predict who will become an effective teacher has not met with the same consensus. Teacher inputs on student achievement such as quality of teacher training institutions attended, amount of training, licensure area and status, and teacher self-efficacy have all been studied. What has not been studied is how these inputs manifest themselves on the performance of students with disabilities on high-stakes tests. This study addresses that gap by examining teacher inputs for 55 special education teachers on the performance of 462 students with disabilities using the Ohio Achievement Test for reading. Results indicate that the quality of the teacher training institution attended by the teacher has a significant effect on student achievement; however, students with cognitive disabilities failed to make progress regardless of teacher characteristics.

These findings have implications for schools of education as they train teachers and school districts as they hire them. Findings also raise questions about the growing practice of using student performance as an accountability measure for schools, school districts and, increasingly, teachers.