Is ATAR useful for predicting the Success of Australian Students in Initial Teacher Education?

Australian Journal of Teacher Education Volume 40 Issue 9 Article 1 2015 Is ATAR useful for predicting the Success of Australian Students in Initial Teacher Education? Vince J. Wright Australian Catholic University, Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte Part of the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons Recommended Citation Wright, V. J. (2015). Is ATAR useful for predicting the Success of Australian Students in Initial Teacher Education?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(9). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n9.1 This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss9/1 Australian Journal of Teacher Education Is ATAR Useful For Predicting The Success of Australian Students In Initial Teacher Education? Vince Wright Australian Catholic University Abstract: Quality teaching is the most significant systemic factor contributing to student achievement. Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers are important goals for Australia as they are for all nations. Debate rages currently about criteria for selection of students into Initial Teacher Education (ITE). The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is promoted by some commentators as a useful selection measure. The data from six cohorts of students from undergraduate degree programmes at a Melbourne university campus were investigated to evaluate the validity of ATAR as a predictor of academic success and performance on school placement. ATAR was positively related to academic success for students in the three Bachelor of Education Primary cohorts but was weakly related for the three Early Childhood/Primary cohorts. Ratings of performance by associate teachers on placement were unrelated to ATAR for all six cohorts. Given less than one third of students nationally enter ITE on the basis of their ATAR the data suggest that a variety of selection methods and criteria are required and ensuring high standards within ITE courses is the best way to control for quality of graduates. Introduction In the globalised competition for improved student achievement the quality of teaching is widely recognised as the most productive focus of attention. While factors such as student background, peer and parental expectations have considerable influence on students’ achievement it is the quality of teaching that has the greatest systemic effect (Goe, 2007; Hanushek, 2011; Hattie, 2009). Alton-Lee (2003) reported that teachers contribute 30% on average to gains in student achievement. She added that the impact is as high as 60% for students of greatest need. In short, teachers matter. Some commentators question the transportability of factors of success from one national system to others. Attributing gains in student achievement solely to the quality of teaching is debatable. Other researchers suggest an ecological approach to educational improvement that also considers factors such as mobility, poverty, languages other than instructional, access to nutrition and medical care (Braun, 2008), broadened methods for assessing achievement, and application of democratic principles in changing teacher practices (Coffield, 2011). Most comparative studies of student achievement assume the validity and reliability of international measures such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA). Cross-national comparisons suggest that education systems able to attract top academic students to teaching, develop them into effective teachers through high quality professional learning opportunities, and find ways to equitably allocate their teachers to the most needy schools and students tend Vol 40, 9, September 2015 1 Australian Journal of Teacher Education to have higher average student achievement (McKinsey Company, 2007; Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber, 2010; OECD, 2013). Darling-Hammond (2010) described how Singapore and Finland, two high performing countries on PISA, recruit from the top third of high school graduates. These nations support their students financially and pastorally through studentships and mentoring during the early years of teaching. There is evidence of the Mathew effect operating in the sense that students who enter initial teacher training (ITE) with higher grades seem to learn more. For example, measures of high-school achievement and the number of mathematics classes associate highly with the mathematical content and pedagogical content knowledge of graduating teachers and their subsequent effectiveness in improving student achievement over their early years of teaching (Blomeke, Suhl, Kaiser, & Dohrmann, 2012). However, other research about the relative impact of teachers with high scores on standardised tests, compared to teachers with average scores, points to marginal but small differences in the achievement gains of their students on reading and mathematics at primary (elementary) level (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007) and across varied subjects at secondary (college) level (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2010). Even if it is assumed that higher standardised test scores for teachers translates into higher achievement for students the price of change is significant for nations wishing to attract students into teaching. Yeh’s (2009) meta-analysis suggested that for the United States of America to entice entrants to ITE who achieve at least one standard deviation above the mean on Standardised Achievement Tests (SAT’s), salaries would need to be raised by a minimum of 44.65%, an unsustainable increase. What Matters in Initial Teacher Education? An often-voiced argument is that ITE should draw from students who have already demonstrated academic scholarship, maturity and commitment by being awarded a Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate discipline. For example, McLean Davies et al. (2013) argue that the success of a Masters level clinical practice based model of ITE is dependent on prospective teachers possessing “a well-defined body of knowledge” (p.96). The implication is that an undergraduate degree is required to establish this knowledge. However the evidence in favour of requiring higher degrees for entry into ITE is inconsistent, despite such level of qualification being expected in some successful systems such as that in Finland. Possession of a Masters level degree by the teacher does not translate into higher gains in mathematics and reading for elementary (primary) students (Hanushek, 2011; Harris & Sass, 2011). In some studies higher degrees in subjects like mathematics have actually been associated with negative gains in student achievement (Zuzovsky, 2009). Learning ‘on the job’ in the first years of teaching is the factor most associated with improvements to student achievement. A common difficulty with research about the impact of higher degrees is the use of course completion as the measure of subject knowledge. (...truncated)