Date of Award
Spring 5-7-2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in School Leadership
Department
Center for Leadership & Learning
College
College of Education
Committee Chair
Dr. Steve Bounds
Second Committee Member
Dr. John A. Freeman
Third Committee Member
Dr. Tony Prothro
Program Director
Dr. John A. Freeman
Dean of Graduate College
Dr. Jeff Robertson
Abstract
This study addresses teacher education level and the impact it has on student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there are any differences in student achievement between students taught by teachers with advanced degrees in a specific content area and those students taught by teachers with only a bachelor’s degree or those with a master’s degree outside the subject area. The study examined ninth and tenth grade ACT Aspire student achievement data collected from teachers who hold a master’s degree in a subject-related content area and teachers who do not hold a master’s degree in a subject-related content area. Data from six different local educational agencies (LEA) was analyzed to determine statistical significance between degree attainment and student achievement. The results varied based on content area and teacher degree; however, overall, content area master’s degrees do not have a significant positive effect on student achievement.
Recommended Citation
Nail, Christopher Lee, "Do Graduate Level Content Degrees Matter? An Analysis of the Effect of Content Area Master's Degrees on Student Achievement" (2019). Theses and Dissertations from 2019. 8.
https://orc.library.atu.edu/etds_2019/8