The Importance of Teacher Credentials for Early Achievement – A Replication of Croninger et al. (2007) Econ. Edu. Rev.

Many educational reforms in the United States incorporated teacher qualifications into their design to better the quality of public education. However, research remains mixed as to whether teacher quality impacts student achievement. This study aimed to replicate a study prior to recent teacher education reforms to understand what differences exist, if any, in the relationships between teacher qualifications and elementary student achievement. A federal data source was used to examine school-, teacher-, and student-level variables on first grade reading and mathematics achievement. Results indicate that few school- and student-level variables relate to reading and mathematics achievement, yet no teacher-level predictors related to first grade achievement. The paper concludes with a discussion on similar studies and limitations. Keywords: replication; ECLS-K; teacher certification; teacher qualification