教師特質對國中生數學學習成就影響之研究

Teacher Characteristics and Student Mathematics Achievement in Taiwan’s Junior High Schools

1998年教育部推動「健全師資培育與教師進修制度計畫」，鼓勵教師進修取得學分及學位；2002年修改師資培育法，規定新進教師須透過通過考試取得教師證，政府冀望透過制度提升現有師資水準。但這些政策後面皆隱含著：教師進修學位或較嚴格的資格審定，可提升師資素質，促使學生有較佳的學習表現。教師某些可衡量的特質，是否與學生的學習成就有所關連，是本研究的中心議題。本研究計畫利用自2001年開始進行的台灣教育長期追蹤資料庫(Taiwan Education Panel Survey，簡稱TEPS)進行分析，在控制學生家庭背景及學校的相關條件下，探討教師的某些可觀察到的特質與學生學業成就之間的關連為何。由於TEPS資料為一追蹤資料，可清楚連結某一教師與學生，這將有效減少估計時所可能產生之誤差。實証結果發現，許多與人力資本相關之指標諸如：是否具有碩士學位、主修是否為數學及是否為師範學院畢業等，並未發現與學生表現有關。但某些隱含教師對學生付出較多時間之變數則對學生成績有正面影響。研究結果顯示要用傳統人力資本指標衡量教師之素質有其難度，教育改革應將重心置於如何改善課程設計，增進教師課前準備與教學技巧。

The government in Taiwan recently announced a series of policies aimed at improving teacher quality. This major policy initiative includes encouraging teachers to pursue an advanced degree and in-service education. The central issue of this project is to investigate the relationship between traditional human capital measures of teacher characteristics and student achievements. Using newly released data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS), which allows students to be linked to particular teachers and classes, we can precisely estimate the effect of teacher characteristics on student outcomes while controlling for students’family background. Based on different specifications, our empirical results show that traditional human capital measures have few robust associations with students’test scores. Regarding teacher behavior variables, we find that teachers spending more time on students and class preparation tend to be more effective. As a result, we argue that it is not very likely to identify the quality of a teacher simply based on the traditional human capital characteristics. Our suggestion is, instead of highlighting the importance of an advanced degree or certification, emphasis should be put on the curriculum, class preparation and teaching skills.