Teachers and administrators, whether they serve in the Christian or public school setting, can discover the importance of the credentialing process, even though the word certification has been known to cause frustration and consternation. The ACSI certification program is intended to provide professional credentials to qualified Christian school educators.
To receive an ACSI certificate, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited, ACSI-approved, or ACSI-recognized college or university. In addition, if they have not met specific ACSI certification requirements, applicants will be required to complete formal Bible instruction, training in the biblical philosophy of Christian school education, and training in appropriate teacher or administrator pedagogy or both.
Studies on the effects of teacher certification and its impact on students have yielded a wealth of information over the last few years. Research has not drawn any absolute or definitive conclusions, but it does appear that the studies are leaning in a clear direction. The results indicate that definite connections exist between student learning and teachers who are appropriately trained and certified.
In 2002, James H. Strong wrote the book Qualities of Effective Teachers. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has given ACSI permission to reprint the following excerpt from pages six through eight:
Another important and controversial issue related to educational preparation of teachers is licensure and certification. In most states, teacher certification status is related to educational background and to scores on some tests of pedagogical or content knowledge, or both….
The research indicates that the number of well-qualified, certified teachers … is a consistent and significant predictor of student achievement in math and reading on standardized tests. Furthermore, one of the best predictors of low student performance in individual schools is the number of uncertified teachers in the building….
Some studies conclude that uncertified teachers and out-of-field teaching actually harms the teacher, as well as the student…. Some studies concluded that uncertified teachers and out-of-field teachers achieve far less with students than teachers with proper, in-field certification.
Some important findings from research related to certification standards are:
- Fully prepared and certified teachers have a greater impact on gains in student learning than do uncertified or provisionally certified teachers, especially with minority populations and in urban and rural settings.
- Teacher certification status and teaching within one’s field are positively related to student outcomes.
- Teachers with certification of some kind (standard, alternative, or provisional) tend to have higher achieving students than teachers working without certification.
- Teachers certified within their field have significantly higher achievement rates among their students than teachers working out-of-field, especially in mathematics.
- Students of teachers who hold standard certification in their core subjects score from 7 to 10 points higher on 12th-grade math tests than students of teachers with probationary, emergency, or no certification.
- Some studies have demonstrated relationships between standard certification and teacher practices (e.g., hands-on-learning, connections to student experiences). These teacher practices have themselves been found to be effective in supporting student achievement, thus illustrating possible indirect relationship between traditional certification and student achievement.
In reprinting this information, ACSI wishes to give research-based reasons why certification is important. The plan behind certification is to encourage professional and spiritual growth—not to make educators’ lives more complicated. Certification requirements help assure that we are held accountable to high standards and to the young people we have been called to teach. These standards not only make us better teachers but honor the Lord.
Research on the Effects of Teacher Certification 6.4