Teachers who were White, female, or had five or more years of experience scored about 14 percentage points higher; emergency-certified teachers scored 14 points lower¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · design r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Observed mean score differences by race/ethnicity, gender, experience, and certification were statistically significant at p < .05, with about 14 percentage points (roughly three items) separating the named groups. → Witherspoon 2026

Evidence¶

Witherspoon 2026¶

Witherspoon, E.B.; Dracopoli, M., Hawkins, M., Dahlke, K. (2026). Developing a measure of middle school math teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of computational thinking (REL 2026–007). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/developing-measure-middle-school-math-teachers-pedagogical-content-knowledge-computational-thinking

q2 · i? · design · r3

One-way ANOVA and descriptive comparison of survey scores across teacher characteristics (figure 2; group n's 14–88). Differences significant at p < .05; emergency-certified teachers scored "an average of 14 percentage points lower than teachers with traditional teaching certification."

"teachers who identified as White, teachers who identified as female, and teachers with five or more years of teaching experience scored an average of 14 percentage points higher on the survey than teachers not from those groups"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Additional certificate holders had fewer years of teaching experience on average (7 years) than teachers who did not earn additional certificates (15 years) — related
• The 16-item CT–PCK Survey measures CT pedagogical content knowledge for math as a single overall construct — a broader claim this one bears on
• The overall CT–PCK Survey functioned similarly across teacher characteristic groups, though some items showed raw differential item functioning above 0.64 logits — related
• GED takers had higher grade 8 test scores and were more likely White and less likely lunch-eligible than HiSET and TASC takers — related
• HSE exam takers completed fewer years of school and were more likely to be lunch-eligible and to identify as Black or Hispanic than non-exam takers — related
• Teachers scored across a wide range on the CT–PCK Survey, averaging about 61 percent correct, with 92 percent scoring above chance — related
• Minority teachers' lower observation scores are largely attributable to school characteristics, and no race/ethnicity differences appear on value-added scores — related
• Teachers in schools serving more non-white students score lower on teacher licensure and literacy examinations — related
• Male teachers have lower observation and value-added scores than female teachers — related