A National Institutes of Health study of 550 1st and 2nd grade twins revealed what has been obvious to some for a while: Teaching quality is the single greatest indicator of student learning progress.

Among the identical twins, 42 pairs out of 280 pairs showed significant differences in reading improvement during the year studied, said lead researcher Jeanette Taylor, an associate professor of psychology at Florida State.

In each case, the teachers also had significantly different quality scores. Twins with similarly good teachers got similar scores.

And yet, U.S. schools of education continue to churn out substandard teachers (which is not to say that many excellent teachers are being produced as well). Here is the bottom line: To the degree a school, district or state invests in its teachers, learners will progress to the same degree. In the end it’s not the facilities, resources or PC considerations that get results; it’s having smart, well-trained teachers.

The researchers believe their results showed the best teachers made the biggest difference in learning achievement. Genetic differences between students seemed to disappear in classrooms taught by less effective teachers, because children don’t reach their potential, the researchers found.

Interesting final sentence in the quote above. Could it be that political lobbies prefer that students are equally poorly taught in a misguided attempt to be egalitarian? Surely they don’t think that far ahead; they’re just incompetent.

Give me a core of really good teachers, and I’ll show you a successful school.

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