Achievement Correlations

I must say that I was surprised at some of the data shared regarding student achievement and various contributing factors.  For instance, the teachers years of experience had no direct correlation between student achievement in 3rd, 5th, or 8th grade.  The connection between the teachers amount of additional education showed the same [no correlation] in 3rd and 5th grades; however, there was a small increase in student achievement for the 8th grade students.  An example would be a math teacher that gets a master's degree in mathematics, according to the data, might show a slight increase in student scores.  The data that I found most disturbing was the negative correlation between teacher salary and student achievement.  Data actually showed that the more a teacher makes, the less likely students are to show increased achievement in 3rd, 5th and 8th grade.  Wow!