Effective teachers for at risk schools and students

The National Comprehensive Centre for Teacher Quality, in the USA, have released this large report into at risk schools and students and the impact teachers can have. It aims to build on the "No Child Left Behind" strategy of the USA.

Key points:
- Highly Qualified Teachers are shown to have a significantly positive impact on their pupils.
- High qualifications in certain subjects (such as mathematics) has a stronger link to pupil attainment in that subject than other subjects (such as reading).
- Teacher experience has big increases in the first 4-5 years of teaching, after that the benefits of additional years teaching are minimal.

There are also suggestions for special educational needs, behaviour management, succession planning and initial teacher training.