Qualifications and professional growth opportunities of teachers in high- and low-poverty elementary schools

This study explores the distribution of teacher qualifications (e.g., experience, highest academic degree earned, comprehensiveness of certifications) and professional growth opportunities (i.e., supportive in-service training, staff collegiality, schoolwide support for innovation, teacher policy influence) across elementary schools of varying poverty levels. No statistically significant differences in teacher qualifications were found across low-, middle-, and high-poverty schools, but significant differences emerged in professional growth opportunities, with teachers from the highest poverty schools having fewer opportunities than teachers from lower poverty schools. Additional analyses linking differences in qualifications and professional growth opportunities to instructional efficacy and implementation of reformed instruction revealed greater efficacy and evidence of reform among teachers from all school-poverty levels who were provided with more abundant professional growth opportunities.