Question

But what is teacher quality? How can one measure it reliably?

An analysis is issued on a sample of data from a Texas school district. Experts argue convincingly that teacher effectiveness should be measured by students’ gains on standardized tests: Mr. Smith is probably a better teacher than Ms. Brown if his students consistently improve their test scores more than hers do.

Though this approach is appealing, there are tricky issues. For example, what if Ms. Brown teaches in a school where students score so high there is little room for improvement?

The authors try to correct for this problem, as well as other sorts of measurement issues, to generate a measurement of teacher effectiveness. The paper is primarily concerned with how this measure is related to other observable characteristics.

The first finding is that there is a large variation in teacher effectiveness: some teachers consistently have a larger impact on their students’ achievement than others.

Second, easily observable characteristics like having a master’s degree or a passing score on the teacher certification exam are not correlated关联 with teacher effectiveness.

Then what does matter? The most important single influence is experience: first-year teachers are much less effective than others. The second year is significantly better, and by the fourth year, most teachers hit their stride.

It is not entirely clear whether this experience effect is learning by doing (the more you teach, the more effective you become) or survival of the fittest (those who are not good at teaching tend to drop out early.)

From my reading of the paper, both effects appear important and there is no simple answer. The data do suggest, however, that teacher effectiveness is pretty clear by the end of the second year, so the information to make an informed decision is available at that time.

The authors also investigate the contentious 有争议的issue of racial matching of students and teachers. Here they find strong evidence that minority teachers tend to be more effective with minority students. Again, it is unclear whether this is because of a role model effect (students respond better to a teacher of their own race) or an empathy effect 移情效应(teachers empathize better with students of their own race) or something else entirely.

The authors also look at teacher mobility. There is some evidence that teachers who quit teaching or switch schools tend to be below average in effectiveness. This is consistent with the survival-of-the-fittest model.

1.The schoolmaster could decide wisely whether to further employ the teacher by the end of the ______.

A. the first year          B. the second year             C. the third year        D. the fourth year

2.The phrase “hit their stride” most probably means “______”.

A. reach their normal level                                    B. become confident

C. walk with long steps                                            D. get bored

3.The author of this passage holds the view that ______.

A. teachers will perform better with time passing

B. ineffective teachers should leave earlier rather than later

C. teacher’s effectiveness is apparent after a couple of years

D. a master’s degree will improve teacher’s effectiveness

4.Why do black teachers tend to be more effective with black students?

A. Students fell secure, so they respond better.

B. Teachers sympathize with students of their own race.

C. There are entirely some other identified reasons.

D. The reasons are far from clear and definite.

5.Which of the following may serve as the best title?

A. The Quality of Teaching

B. Impact of Teacher Quality on Student Learning

C. Different Sorts of Measurement Issues

D. Survival-of-the-fittest Model vs. Learning-by-doing Model

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一份关于教师教学效果的衡量和影响因素的分析报告。在报告中，专家们认为学生在考试中的得分应该作为教师教学效果的衡量标准。而且还提到了教学经验在教学中的影响以及教学中的移情效应等。

1.D推理判断题。根据文中first-year teachers are much less effective than others. The second year is significantly better, and by the fourth year, most teachers hit their stride.可知教师的教学经验是逐年增长的，到了毕业后第四年的时候大多数都有了足够的经验，由此推断得知D选项正确。明智的校长在第四年底再决定是否继续聘用该教师。

2.B推理判断题。根据文中first-year teachers are much less effective than others. The second year is significantly better,可知随着教龄的增长，教学经验也在增长，经验多了，老师的自信也更强了，由此推断B为正确选项。

3.A 推理判断题。根据文中From my reading of 。。。The data do suggest, that teacher effectiveness is pretty clear by the end of the second year,可知教师的表现和教学效果会随着时间的过去而变得更好。

4.D细节理解题。由文中。。。 it is unclear whether this is because of a role model effect  or an empathy effect可知D选项正确、

5.C主旨大意题。文章开头提出教学效果的衡量标准，然后围绕此话题展开叙述，由此可知文章中心是教学效果的衡量标准和影响因素，所以正确选项为C。

考点：考查教育类短文阅读。