Reading and Instruction in the Classroom

Teacher Preparation and Experience

Examining teachers' preparation and tenure indicates the experience of teachers in the classroom. On the teacher questionnaire in PIRLS 2001, teachers were asked about the training they have received and the number of years they have been teaching.

• Based on teacher reports of their preparation for teaching, 95 percent of U.S. fourth-graders are taught by certified teachers¹⁰. This is higher than the corresponding international average of 89 percent.
• U.S. fourth-graders appear to be taught by teachers who have more experience teaching fourth grade than their counterparts in the majority of the participating PIRLS 2001 countries. On average, U.S. fourth-grade students are taught by teachers who have been teaching fourth grade for 7 years (figure 11)¹¹. Twenty-six of the other 34 participating countries reported that their fourth-graders are taught by teachers with fewer years of experience teaching fourth grade.

10 Indicates that students are taught by a teacher with a teaching certificate. The most recent NAEP reading assessment data from 1994 show that 95 percent of the teachers of fourth-grade students were certified in the state in which they taught. In the 2001 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), 97 percent of fourth-grade teachers reported that they were certified.
11 In the 2001 SASS, fourth-grade teachers reported that on average they had been teaching for 14 years.