In my ten years of HS teaching I saw good (hard-working, interested in learning) students do well with good teachers, and ALSO do pretty well with poor teachers…
I saw poor (not working, not interested in learning) students do poorly with poor teachers and ALSO do poorly with good teachers….
From this I have derived my Brilliant Insight:
“The most important variable in student academic achievement is student academic work.” (not teacher quality, although that can make some difference)…
This Insight gains no traction, in spite of its obvious truth, I think, because ED Leaders, Pundits, Planners, Designers, etc., believe they are helpless to increase student interest in doing academic work.
So they Plan, Lead, Design, Critique, and so on, and the issue of student academic work just gets no attention.
This all seems too simple-minded, of course, but an increase in student academic work is guaranteed to improve student academic achievement (in every group) and it is irresponsible to ignore it, however difficult it may be to influence.
