Teacher Effectiveness and the Explanation of Social Disparities in Educational Achievement

Abstract

The belief that effective teaching can raise the performance of students to a marked extent seems to have become fixed in the contemporary discourse of educational policymakers. It is asserted that evidence-based research has demonstrated a causal relationship between better teaching and better learning. A critical examination will show, however, that the case is less secure than it might seem, even within the logic of quantitative modelling. The argument is based on an examination of Hattie