Good teaching matters; that’s something we don’t need to be taught. But how much does it matter? What are its measurable benefits? Today’s education select committee report collects some striking, if pre-existing, research into just those very questions, and it is worth reading for that reason. There is, for example, the IPPR’s suggestion that ‘having an “excellent” teacher compared with a “bad” one can mean an increase of more than one GCSE grade per pupil per subject.’ Or there’s the American study which found that the best teachers can ‘generate about $250,000 or more of additional earnings for their students over their lives in a single classroom of about 28 students.’ Sure, these figures have some uncertainty attached to them — but they capture a very real effect nonetheless.
And they also underpin the committee’s main recommendation, which is for the government to ‘develop proposals for a pay system which rewards those teachers who add the greatest value to pupil performance.’
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