Effects of Teacher Attributes and Strategies on Student Achievements

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a better understanding of how teacher education, teacher experience, and teaching behaviors influence student achievement in science. Two broad research questions guided this inquiry: (a) whether a relationship existed between both teacher educational level and experience with student science achievement; and (b) whether teacher behaviors mediated or moderated the relationships between both teacher educational level and experience and student achievement in science. As suggested by some researchers, teacher education level and experience may not directly influence student science achievement, but may do so indirectly. Multilevel statistical models were employed to investigate the relationships among the teacher- and student-related factors with student science achievement as the ultimate outcome. An exploration of the mediating or moderating role of teacher behaviors in the relationship between both teacher education and experience and student achievement was the contribution of this study to our existing knowledge in this area.