Most Likely to Succeed
Great piece from Malcolm Gladwell on the problem of selecting teachers without knowing whether they’ll actually be any good at the job until they’re actually doing it for you.
A group of researchers … have investigated whether it helps to have a teacher who has earned a teaching certification or a master’s degree. Both are expensive, time-consuming credentials that almost every district expects teachers to acquire; neither makes a difference in the classroom. Test scores, graduate degrees, and certifications—as much as they appear related to teaching prowess—turn out to be about as useful in predicting success as having a quarterback throw footballs into a bunch of garbage cans.
