In the article, Effects of Teachers on Minority and Disadvantaged Students’ Achievement by Early Grade researcher, Spyros Konstantopoulos conducted a study, which investigated the effects of teachers on female minority and low-socioeconomic-status (SES) (Konstantopoulos 2009, 92). In the study students and teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms. The sample size was enormously large with nearly 11,000 students all in a total of 79 schools. The data took over four years to produce. All participants of the study were students in Tennessee schools.

Data for the study was entered into “Project Star.” Information recorded included; student outcome (i.e. Stanford Achievement test scores), and student demographics (i.e. gender, race, ethnicity, and socio economic status).  Konstantopoulos also explored whether teacher effects were more pronounced in schools with high proportions of minority or female students. Results showed that all students benefited from having effective teachers. The differential teacher effects on female, minority, and low-SES students’ achievement, however, were insignificant. There were some evidence in mathematics that teacher effects are more distinct in high-minority schools. Finally, teacher effects seem to be consistent within and between schools.

The researcher used multilevel models in order to better determine the teacher’s interaction effectiveness with student gender, race, and SES. Konstantopoulos, also used, “similar methods to explore whether teacher effects were pronounced in high poverty schools.” The effects the teachers made towards the students living in low socio economic statuses were measured as a residual variability in achievement among classrooms within the schools whom participated in the study. Konstantopoulos states, “The distribution of teacher effectiveness consisted of deviation scores that demonstrated the difference in achievement between a specific teacher (classroom) and the average effective teacher in the sample (Konstantopoulos 2009, 98).

I believe this research has and will remain current for years to come. We will also face the issue of poverty, and being able to better understand effective ways in which to better suit students living in low SES conditions can only be beneficial for them in many ways.

DOI: 10.1086/598845