Introduction
Washington State policymakers have been debating whether teacher compensation
should continue to be awarded on the basis of credit hours earned past the
bachelor’s degree or upon conferral of a master’s degree. A Joint Task Force on
Basic Education and Finance (BETF) was formed by the 2007 Washington State
Legislature to review and propose changes to the current funding formulas specific
to school employee compensation. One of the demands placed upon the task force
was to explore options for a compensation package that was more aligned with
teacher performance directly linked to student outcomes. The legislature also
directed the Washington State Institute for Policy (WSIP) to provide support for
research and report writing. A review of the literature was conducted by the WISP
and a sort of meta-analysis was produced for the report using effect size of student
achievement gains as the determinant variable (I think). The graph included studies
that purported to examine teacher characteristics on three categories: a) Graduate
Degree (13 studies); b) Experience (15 studies); and c) National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards (4 studies). The report cited the net effect of
advanced degree on student achievement to be insignificant, but significant gains
were evidenced in one to five years of teaching experience. The conclusion drawn
from these findings was “academic performance would be improved by adjusting
salary schedules to place more emphasis on experience and less (or no) emphasis
on graduate degrees” (BETF report, 2007 p. 21). While the widely known
educational research has shown the relationship between teacher experience and
teacher effectiveness, the educational community was surprised to learn advanced
degrees were now being considered as obsolete.
The purpose of this project was to review the research used in the BETF report to
verify the findings and conclusions that there is little of no teacher effect brought
about by advanced degrees.
Group
#
1
2
3
Amt
Author, year, area of study/inquiry
2
Wayne and Youngs (2003) examined the relationship between student
achievement gains and the characteristics of teachers.
1
2
4
1
5
1
6
1
7
1
8
6
Goldhaber & Brewer (1997) assessed the impact of unobservable characteristics
on educational productivity as evidenced by student tenth grade math test scores.
Krieg (2006) looked at the factors that contribute to teacher attrition.
Koedel and Betts (2007) examined testing variation in teacher quality as a
contributor to student achievement.
Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain (2005) examined whether schools “make a difference”
or not for students, looking at differences in teacher quality as the determining
factor for student outcomes.
Aaronson, Barrow, & Sander (2007) estimated the importance of teachers on
student mathematics test score gains on the ITBS and TAP tests.
Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor (2006) examined whether more highly qualified
teachers were paired with more advantaged students.
Wenglinsky (1997) examined per-pupil expenditures for instruction and
administration and posited a path between the relationship of economic resources
and student achievement.
Hanushek (1992) examined how family size affects student achievement, with a
subsequent section investigating the impact of classroom size.
Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor (2007) examined the relationship between teacher
credentials and student achievement at the high school level.
Goldhaber & Anthony (2007) used NBPTS certification (credentials) as both an
indicator of and a catalyst for teacher effectiveness.
Harris & Sass (2007) studied the effect of education and training (credentials)
on the ability of teachers to promote student achievement.
Hill (2007) examined the effectiveness of graduate coursework and professional
development (credentials) and student outcomes.
Ladd, Sass & Harris (2007) examined the relationship between teacher quality
(category 3) and student achievement, using NBPTS certification (credentials
= category 8) as a “signaling effect” to identify and reward superior teachers.
9
1
Cavalluzzo (2004) attempted to determine whether National Board Certification
(credentials) was an effective signal of teacher quality as evidence by student
outcomes, looking at teacher experience, state certification in math, advanced
degrees, selectivity of undergraduate training, and National Board Certification
to determine the effect on student test scores.
Eide & Showalter (1998) estimated the relationship between school quality and
performance on standardized tests.
What do we know?
1)
2)
3)
4)
Teachers matter
Experience matters, but has a ceiling effect
Good teachers remain in the profession longer
Smaller classrooms matter
We cannot concur from the studies read that Masters degrees do not matter.
We can say that the issue should be studied further, because there seems to
be a relationship between student performance and Masters degrees. The
strongest relationships seem to be present in math content. Nowhere has anyone
specifically studied the causal effects of a Masters degree compared to a Bachelors
degree; why would they? Perhaps now we have a reason.
What has been cited in the 2008 BETF report is the only claim against
Masters degrees, and they are only based upon effect sizes conducted through metaanalysis . Effect sizes are nothing more than dividing mean differences of standard
deviations from a variety of research findings. “Meta-analysis was created out of the
need to extract useful information from the cryptic records of inferential data
analyses in the abbreviated reports of research journals and other printed sources.”
None of the above studies were inferential. What we observe in the current research
review are essentially multiple regression studies/ factor analyses that seek to find
relationships in and among a variety of complex variables (many of them are very
good on their own, but none have gone out to prove Masters degrees to be a
obsolete teaching degree).
On the topic of met-analysis, even Glass , 2000 (the inventor of metaanalysis) has written criticisms regarding how meta-analysis has been misused in
the literature and in policy decisions. “ by far most meta-analyses are undertaken in
pursuit of not scientific theory but technological evaluation (suggesting only
possible outputs or benefits).” He summarizes, “ if our efforts to research and
improve education are to prosper, meta-analysis will have to be replaced by more
useful and more accurate ways of synthesizing research findings”. Some of which
are being used for instance in the Krieg’s, 2006 well done econometrics study. Who,
by the way set out to examine teacher quality and attrition. An ancillary sentence in
the body of the paper indicated basically using the 3rd grade ITBS scores and 4th
WASL data sets no differences in performance were found between teacher with
Masters and teachers with bachelors.
We conclude by stating it would be unwise for anyone in education or policymakers to conclude at this time whether or not Masters degrees are effective or
ineffective.