WORKING PAPER
Arnoud Evers, Marc Vermeulen and Marcel van der Klink
The need to invest in teachers
and teacher education
How to manage costs and achieve quality
in teacher education?
5507031
Ruud de Moor Centrum
Omslag formaat 423,5 mm x 297 mm (rug is 58 p = 3,5 mm)
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WORKING PAPER
Arnoud Evers, Marc Vermeulen and
Marcel van der Klink
The need to invest in teachers
and teacher education
How to manage costs and achieve quality in
teacher education?
Deze publicatie is mede mogelijk gemaakt door de financiële ondersteuning van het ministerie van
Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap aan het programma Zij-instroom van de Open Universiteit
Nederland.
© Copyright Ruud de Moor Centrum, 2007
All right reserved. No part of this publication may reproduced, stored, in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publishers.
Printed in The Netherlands.
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Ruud de Moor Centrum
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The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
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Table of contents
Preface
7
Summary
9
1
Introduction
11
1.1
Motivation for this research
11
1.2
Context
11
1.3
Problem statement and research questions
12
1.4
Research procedure
13
1.4.1
Literature research
13
1.4.2
Consulting experts
13
1.5
2
3
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
14
15
2.1
Introduction
15
2.2
The value of a teacher
15
2.3
Investment in teacher training and education, and its effects
16
2.4
Conclusion
21
Yield of teacher training and education
23
3.1
Introduction
23
3.2
Yield of teacher training defined
23
3.3
Yield of post-initial in-service teacher training
24
3.3.1
Quantity of post-initial in-service teacher training
24
3.3.2
Quality of post-initial in-service teacher training
25
3.3.3
Quantity (cost per participant) and quality combined
25
3.4
3.5
4
Research outline
Yield of initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
26
3.4.1
Quantity yield in initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
26
3.4.2
Quality of initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
28
3.4.3
Quantity (cost per student) and quality (effectiveness) combined
30
Conclusion
Improving the cost-effectiveness of teacher education
31
33
4.1
Introduction
33
4.2
Improving cost-effectiveness (yield) of post-initial in-service teacher training
33
4.3
Improving the cost-effectiveness (yield) of initial full-time teacher education
35
4.3.1
Improving cost-effectiveness by means of online teacher education
35
4.3.2
Alternative options for improving the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher
education
4.4
Conclusion
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
38
40
5
5
Conclusion
43
5.1
Introduction
43
5.2
Conclusion
43
5.3
Future research
46
5.4
Practical recommendations
47
Appendix A: Calculation of the value of a teacher
49
Appendix B: Expert consultations
51
Bibliography
53
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Preface
This study not only investigates why it is necessary to invest in teachers and teacher education from an
economic point of view, but also takes into account how money should be allocated wisely, i.e. in a way
that maintains or even improves quality. Unlike most research, then, this study not only deals with the
quality of teacher education, but also looks at the cost aspects. The research was initiated in part because
teacher education institutes providing grade-two training for secondary education (in Dutch:
tweedegraads lerarenopleidingen) have major problems with their yield and their financial situation.
Although the focus in this study is on these colleges, many of its conclusions are also useful for other
educational institutes. The main question addressed in this study is: why is it necessary to invest in
teachers and teacher education from an economic point of view, and how can the yield of teacher
training and education be defined and improved? The answer to this question is based mainly on
literature research and interviews with experts.
Many people have contributed valuable comments and suggestions to this study. First of all, I would like
to thank Marc Vermeulen and Marcel van der Klink, who were closely involved in the study from the very
start. Special thanks must also go to the experts who were interviewed for this study. I would furthermore
like to thank Andries de Grip (ROA, Maastricht University), Dinand Webbink (Centraal Planbureau), Wim
Groot (Maastricht University) and Sjef Stijnen (Open University) for their valuable suggestions and
comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Arnoud Evers
Project manager
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
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Summary
This study makes clear why it is so important to invest in teachers and teacher education. A teacher is
worth a lot to society and making teacher education more attractive to students interested in the
profession requires an investment. Pupils who do not have access to enough good teachers will not be
encouraged to learn as much as they could, and they will pay the price in terms of lower earnings later in
life. Of all the factors open to being influenced by policy, ‘teacher quality’ is the single most important
variable that influences pupil achievement at school. In addition to acknowledging the importance of
investing in teachers and teacher education, a further issue is how to do this cost-effectively. In other
words, how can we manage the cost of educating teachers while maintaining or even improving the
quality of their education at the same time? Teacher education institutes could use cost-effectiveness
benchmarks as peer-review tools or as part of a broader balanced scorecard. In general, it is important to
stimulate a climate in which teacher education programmes and teachers themselves are evaluated and
compared, the way pupil performance is at schools. Further practical suggestions to manage costs and
maintain or improve quality are online training, better financial and cost accounting at faculty level,
greater specialisation and differentiation in the profession of teaching, and closer cooperation between
teacher education institutes on a national scale, facilitated by online communities.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
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1
Introduction
1.1 Motivation for this research
Research on the economics of education, and more specifically the economics of teacher education, is
almost non-existent in the Netherlands. Moreover, government is not always completely aware of the
need to invest in teachers and teacher education, as teaching salaries still lag behind salaries paid in the
commercial sector, and as teacher training colleges still face financial difficulties (OC&W 2006 and
Inspectie van het onderwijs, 2005).
Another reason for this study is to draw attention to both costs and effectiveness or quality in the
education sector, about which there is little awareness. In general, discussions usually focus on the
quality of education (e.g. OC&W, 2005a and OECD, 2005). The question of how to invest money costeffectively is furthermore an important one because the trend in the Dutch education sector is
increasingly to work with lump-sum financing. Schools have to decide themselves how to spend their
money wisely (OC&W, 2005c). This is also, why this research mainly considers teacher education colleges.
More precisely, initial full-time teacher education institutes providing grade-two training for secondary
education (tweedegraads lerarenopleidingen) are the focus of this study because the biggest problems
they face are related to their yield and their financial situation (Inspectie van het onderwijs, 2005). One
important cause of these difficulties is that the institutes generally do not have enough students (and the
quality of the students they do have is too low) to offer economically sound educational programmes.
This paper does not look so much at the causes of these difficulties, as most studies already do and which
are evidently difficult to solve, but focuses instead on how to deal with these facts, especially from an
institutional perspective.
1.2 Context
Before exploring the research questions in the next section, the meaning of teacher training, teacher
education and the context of this study must be made clear. The focus in this study is on initial full-time
teacher education. However, because economics research on initial full-time teacher education is almost
non-existent, research on post-initial teacher training will be used as our main source of information.
These terms or settings will now be explained, and we will also clarify which settings will generally be left
out in the analysis section of this study.
Teacher training mainly takes place in four modes or settings. These are initial in-service teacher
education, post-initial in-service teacher training, initial full-time teacher education and post-initial fulltime teacher training (see table 1 below). Examples of these settings are given in table 1.
In-service
Full-time
Initial teacher education
Dual learning
Four year teacher curriculum
Post-initial teacher training
Refresher course
Master in educational science
Table 1:
Training settings with examples
Dual learning is an example of initial in-service teacher education. In this mode, the student attends
classes and at the same time works, for instance as an employee. In the education sector, such students
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
11
are career switchers attending fast-track teacher training programmes. They may teach classes after they
have been assessed, but they generally need additional schooling to obtain an official teaching
certificate. The second teacher training mode is post-initial in-service teacher training. One example is a
refresher course for qualified teachers. A four-year teaching programme is an example of initial full-time
teacher education. In the Netherlands, initial full-time teacher education institutes providing grade-two
training for secondary education can be categorised as this training mode. The final training mode is a
post-initial full-time teacher training programme. A Master’s programme in educational science is a good
example of this training mode. Full-time training programmes for qualified teachers are not common in
the Netherlands. Because initial full-time teacher education and post-initial in-service teacher training are
the focus of this study, these concepts will now be explained in more detail.
Graduates of secondary school are the main target group for initial full-time teacher education colleges.
We speak of initial full-time teacher education as distinct from post-initial teacher training in order to
stress the initial full-time character of the former training mode. According to the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2005), the structure of initial teacher education differs
considerably across countries. It is not the purpose of this paper to explain this structure at length in an
international context. However, the difference between concurrent versus consecutive models is
important. A concurrent model is a programme in which students take academic courses alongside
specifically educational and didactical courses throughout their programme. A consecutive model is a
programme of professional education in pedagogy and teaching taken after the student has first
obtained a degree in a discipline related to the subjects taught in schools. This paper will focus on the
concurrent model.
The target group for post-initial in-service teacher training consists of qualified teachers and the purpose
is to instruct teachers in the subject matter as well as in pedagogy and didactics (Jacob and Lefgren,
2002). The OECD (2005) mentions in-service teacher training as a form of continuing professional
development for teachers, the aim being to develop and broaden the knowledge teachers acquired
during initial teacher education. Teacher training colleges offer professional development courses or
modules for teachers working in the field in both subject matter and pedagogical skills.
1.3 Problem statement and research questions
As stated in the start of this chapter, the Dutch government is probably not aware of the need to invest in
teachers and teacher education from the economic perspective. Alongside the need to invest in teachers
and teacher education, a second issue is how to invest the money concerned cost-effectively. Discussions
in the Netherlands focus almost exclusively on how to improve the yield of teacher training in the
qualitative sense (e.g. OC&W 2005a and OECD 2005). By contrast, there is seldom any discussion of how
to improve the yield in terms of both costs and quality. This brings us to the following problem
statement:
Why is it necessary to invest in teachers and teacher education from an economic point of view and how can
the yield of teacher training and education be defined and improved?
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This problem statement is divided into three component questions:
Question 1:
Why is it necessary to invest in teachers, teacher training and teacher education from an
economic point of view?
Question 2:
How is the yield of teacher training and education defined?
Question 3:
How can the yield of teacher education be improved?
Each chapter of this paper will answer one component question and these in turn will answer the main
problem statement.
1.4 Research procedure
1.4.1 Literature research
The main part of this paper is based on literature research. A systematic analysis was made of recent
articles, whereby 1995 was used as a rough lower limit (unless no recent research was available). The
sources were articles from scientific journals (e.g. Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Open learning
and Journal of Labour Economics), other research documents, books, policy documents from the Dutch
Ministry of Education (OC&W), other policy documents and Internet sources. These documents were
collected in the following way:
•
recommendations from experts working in the education sector;
•
search engines such as EBSCO, Picarta and Google Scholar, searching on terms such as: yield of
teacher training; quality of teacher training and education; effectiveness of distance education;
investing in teacher training and education; in-service teacher training; cost-effectiveness of
teacher training;
•
searches at organisations that regularly publish on topics such as education and quality: SCP,
Centraal Planbureau, ROA, Ministry of Education, Onderwijsraad, Inspectie van onderwijs, OECD,
SBO;
•
the ‘snowball-method’: searches on authors referred to in publications.
Because little research is available in the Netherlands on the area covered by this study, most of the
scientific journals and academic research used was foreign in origin. It is important to recognise that the
conclusions drawn from these articles may have a different impact in the Netherlands.
1.4.2 Consulting experts
Questions were formulated based on the literature, and experts consulted in accordance with these
questions (see appendix B). The area of expertise of the various experts is described in appendix B. In
order to guarantee anonymity, the experts’ names have been omitted. The interviews had a qualitative
explorative character and the main questions, as presented in appendix B, acted as a guideline for the
interviews. However, additional ‘probing’ questions were also asked during the interview. The content of
these ‘probing’ questions was contingent on the expert’s area of expertise. Because all the experts were
Dutch, questions were translated into Dutch and the interviews were conducted in Dutch.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
13
The interview questions can be broken down roughly into two topics. The first topic deals with the
quantity and quality of teacher education (questions 1 to 5, see appendix B). The second topic concerns
cost-effectiveness and the financial situation of teacher education institutes (questions 6 to 10, see
appendix B).
The outcomes of the expert consultations were used to gain a deeper insight into these topics and as
input for chapter 4. In particular, there is little or no information in the literature about ‘alternative
options for improving cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education’, as is discussed in chapter 4. In this
respect, consulting experts was very useful.
1.5 Research outline
The next chapter will investigate the need to invest in teachers and teacher education. It will calculate the
value of a teacher for society and explore the effects of investing in teacher training and education. When
the importance of investing in teachers and teacher education has been made clear, the next question is
how to do so cost-effectively (in other words, how to lower costs and maintain or improve quality),
leading to a high yield. In order to answer this question, it is important to first define what we mean by
the yield of teacher training and education. This will be the topic of chapter 3. It is difficult to give an
unambiguous definition of the yield of teacher training and education. It can be defined in terms of both
quantity and quality. How to improve the cost-effectiveness of teacher education is the topic of chapter
4. This chapter investigates the cost-effectiveness of post-initial in-service teacher training in order to
understand how to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial full-time teacher education.
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2
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
2.1 Introduction
The initial aim of this chapter is to explain why it is so important to invest in teachers from an economic
perspective. The value of a teacher is underestimated, probably because it is difficult to define in figures.
This is indeed a problem for all public goods. In this chapter, we attempt to explore the economic value
of a teacher.
The next question is how best to invest in teachers. Research shows that investing in teacher training and
education is one good way to invest in teachers. That means that it is important to investigate the effects
of teacher training and education. Because no research has been performed on these effects in a full-time
teacher education setting, they will first be investigated in a post-initial in-service teacher-training
context. The insights gained make it possible to draw conclusions about these relationships in an initial
full-time teacher education setting.
This chapter is structured as follows. The following section investigates the value of a teacher. It emerges
that teachers are highly valuable, underlining the need to invest in the teaching profession. Section 2.3
explores the effects of investing in teacher training and education. The chapter will end with a
conclusion.
2.2 The value of a teacher
In general, teachers lack status in the eyes of students and teachers themselves, and this has a negative
influence on the profession of teaching. It leads to a low intake of students in teacher education
programmes, and the students who do enrol have little capacity or motivation. The government
recognises the need to invest in teachers and to raise the status of teaching, although perhaps not
enough. Appendix A provides a calculation that illustrates the value of a teacher and stresses the need to
invest in teachers. According to the calculation, the value of a teacher is about EUR 450,000 per year,
based on the higher earnings of a class of 25 students in their later lives, taking into account the cost of
education. Although EUR 450,000 is an impressive figure, it should be regarded with some
circumspection. The calculation is based on a number of underlying assumptions (see appendix A).
In addition to the higher income earned by students in their later lives, education also yields other
benefits for individuals and society, although they are much more difficult to define in figures. For
example, more educated individuals show more responsibility and tend to be healthier than loweducated individuals. More educated people are also more committed to society (Groot and Maassen van
den Brink, 2003). However, research in this area is exploratory in nature and these advantages must be
viewed with caution.
These examples make clear why it is so important to invest in teachers. The next question is how to do so.
There are various options: raise teachers’ salaries, reduce class sizes or invest in training. One good way is
to invest in teacher training and education, something made clear in the most detailed and
methodologically sophisticated study by Angrist and Lavy (2001) on the effects of a specific professional
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
15
development programme. Their analysis suggests that focused teacher development provides a more
cost-effective strategy for increasing pupil performance than reducing class size or increasing school
hours (OECD, 2005).
Besides the increase in pupil performance, it is also important to invest in teacher training and education
in order to attract enough teachers to the field of education. Good quality initial teacher education will
attract students who are more motivated and cleverer. If no investment is made, the result is a shortage
of teachers and, in the worse case, no or poor education, which in turn influences student drop-out rates.
As stated, this costs pupils money in the form of lower earnings in later life.
Although the arguments in favour of investing in teacher training and education appear to point towards
positive effects, other factors may also play an important role. The effects of teacher training and
education will be the subject of the next section.
2.3 Investment in teacher training and education, and its effects
Because a competent, skilled teacher is probably the most important intended effect or product when
investing in teacher training, it is important to investigate the relationship between teacher training and
teacher quality. A step further is the relationship between teacher training and pupil achievement.
Implicit in much research is the fact that teacher quality is a mediator in this relationship (Cochran-Smith,
2005; Jacob and Lefgren, 2002). The relationships between pupil performance and the economic and
social advantages for the individual (micro level) and for a nation (macro level) are speculative, although
imaginable. These relationships can be investigated both for initial full-time grade-two training for
secondary education and post-initial in-service teacher training. The hypothesized relationships are
shown in figure 1.
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Models of teacher training
A: Post-initial in-service teacher training:
1
2
Pupil
performance
Teacher quality
Teacher training
3
Economic and
social advantages
micro (for
individual)
Economic and
social advantages
macro
(for a nation)
B: Initial full-time teacher education:
1
Teacher training
2
Teacher quality
3
Pupil
performance
Economic and
social advantages
micro (for
individual)
Economic and
social advantages
macro
(for a nation)
Figure 1:
Models of the effects of teacher training and education
The definitions of initial full-time teacher education (providing grade-two training) and post-initial inservice teacher training were given in the previous chapter. We will now look at the relationships in figure
1 in more detail. Although the focus in this study is on initial full-time teacher education, we will explore
the relationships in a post-initial in-service teacher-training context first because there is more literature
and information available. The first relationship in model A is the relationship between teacher training and
teacher quality. The Dutch education sector has identified seven competencies of a competent teacher,
known as the SBL competencies (www.lerarenweb.nl/sbl). These are: 1) interpersonal competence, 2)
pedagogic competence, 3) competence in teaching methodology and subject matter expertise, 4)
organisational competence, 5) competence in collaboration with colleagues, 6) competence in
collaboration with environment (e.g. parents) and 7) competence in reflection and development. These
competencies are widely accepted in the Netherlands and probably the best estimate of teacher quality.
The relationship between teacher training and teacher quality has never been investigated as such,
unlike the relationship between teacher quality and pupil performance. This is highly remarkable because
the relationship between teacher training and teacher quality is an important topic of research. Many
studies assume a relationship, however. Kennedy (1998), for example, investigated the relationships as
stated in figure 2 in a review of twelve studies.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
17
In-service
programme
Figure 2:
Changes in teacher
knowledge
Changes in teaching
practices
Student
learning
Path of student learning, adapted from Kennedy (1998). An in-service programme is a form of teacher training.
Kennedy (1998, page 5) states the following: ‘Changes in teacher knowledge or beliefs, coupled with
examples of practice, will stimulate teachers to devise their own new teaching practices that will, in turn,
lead to student learning.’ Changes in teacher knowledge and teaching practices can therefore be seen as
a change in teacher quality, something that can be influenced by teacher training (an in-service
programme).
Teachers also learn on their own and from one another, for example by informal means, which increases
their quality as a teacher. However, because teachers generally work alone with a classroom of students,
informal learning is more difficult for them than in other professions. Future research must elaborate on
teachers’ informal learning, for example by comparing it to informal learning in other professions where
people work on their own most of the time and do not necessarily need a formal education to have a
career. Whatever the case, it seems that both formal training and informal learning (e.g. on the job) is
important for the quality of teachers and that these two forms can complement each other.
Most studies investigate the direct relationship between teacher training and pupil achievement or
performance (pupil performance is usually defined as pupil test scores, see Cochran, 2005) and implicitly
assume teacher quality to be a mediator (see dotted line for this direct relationship in figure 1, model A).
For example, Jacob and Lefgren (2002) investigate the impact of teacher training on student
achievement. They do not mention teacher quality, although they see ‘other teacher and school
characteristics’ as an independent variable affecting student learning (page 59). Angrist and Lavy (2001)
also investigate the relationship between teacher training and pupil learning, and implicitly assume
teacher quality to be a mediator. Whether teacher quality also is a positive mediator remains unclear in
these studies, although Marlin (1991, page 6) states that ‘Training for teachers may have a positive effect
on teacher attitudes; this effect, in turn, may improve student performance.’
Research on how teacher training influences pupil performance directly (the dotted line in figure 1)
remains mixed. Some find a positive relationship (e.g. Angrist and Lavy, 2001), others a negative one (e.g.
Jacob and Lefgren, 2002). One important influence on this relationship is how training is organised.
Kennedy (1998), for example, feels a case can be made for attending more to the content of in-service
teacher training and less to its structural and organisational features.
The broad consensus about the relationship between teacher quality and pupil performance (see figure 1
model A) is that ‘teacher quality’ is the single most important school variable influencing student
achievement (OECD, 2005). Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain (2005) have recently investigated this relationship
by means of a long-term observation of pupils. They conclude that an improvement in teacher quality
can lead to a better pupil performance. Cochran-Smith (2005, page 7) has also observed this positive
relationship. Figure 3 summarizes the relationships discussed with the anticipated influences, based on
the research cited.
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It is important to note that figure 3 is a simplified presentation of the relationships. There are other
variables that influence teacher quality and pupil performance, for example school characteristics (Jacob
and Lefgren, 2002) and the differences students bring to school, that is their abilities and attitudes, and
family and community background. In fact the largest source of variation in student learning can be
attributed to the differences students bring to school. According to Rockoff (2004), the test score variance
accounted for by student effects ranges from 57-68%. However, this factor is difficult to influence, at least
in the short run. School characteristics explain around 10% of student performance. Rockoff (2004) also
estimated that differences among teachers explain up to 23% of the variation in student test score
performance, a factor that is potentially open to policy influences. This percentage is quite high, but more
important is the broad conclusion that of those variables potentially open to policy influences, factors
involving teachers and teaching have the most significant impact on student learning (OECD, 2005).
Student
characteristics
Teacher training
Teacher quality
+
+
Student/ pupil
performance
School
characteristics
+/Figure 3:
Hypothesized relationships of teacher training with anticipated influences based on literature research
The relationships between pupil performance and the economic and social advantages for the individual
(micro level) and for a country (macro level) are the final relationships to be clarified in figure 1 model A. As
stated earlier, pupil performance is usually defined as pupil test scores, see Cochran (2005). The economic
and social advantages at micro level (for the individual) are defined as more money (more income) and a
better understanding of society and better health. The economic and social advantages at macro level
(for a country) are defined as more national income and taxes, lower unemployment rates, a healthier
population, more commitment by citizens to society, and a lower crime rate (Groot and Maassen van den
Brink, 2003). There is no research that specifically investigates the relationships between pupil test scores
and the economic and social advantages for the individual (micro level) and for a country (macro level).
Some studies have investigated these relationships when pupil performance is defined more broadly as
the level of education, for example, primary, lower upper secondary, upper secondary, post-secondary
non-tertiary and finally tertiary education.
For example with respect to the first relationship, that is the relationship between pupil performance
(level of achievement) and the economic and social advantages for the individual, the OECD states that
the earnings differences between workers with secondary and tertiary education ranged from around
25% in Denmark to 100% in the United Kingdom and the United States (Schleicher, 2006). Groot and
Maassen van den Brink (2003) also find an individual real yield of 6% to 8% more income per year for
every year of education more. The social advantages are that highly educated persons tend to make
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
19
better choices about their health; they are also generally happier with their lives and have a better
understanding of society.
There have also been a number of observations about the relationship between pupil performance and
the economic and social advantages for a country. Several studies show that countries with a better
educated population enjoy stronger per capita economic growth (e.g. Sal-i-Martin, 1997 and Bils &
Klenow, 2000). Based on the outcomes of Temple (1999), it can be calculated that an increase in the
average number of years of education by one year will lead to an increase in economic growth of 0.5-0.8
percent. The social advantages that pupil performance (defined as achieved education level) stimulates
for a country are, for example, a healthier population, leading to lower overall health costs, more
responsible citizens and lower crime figures (Groot and Maassen van den Brink, 2003).
It is important to bear in mind that while almost all of the individual relationships in figure 1 (model A)
have been investigated as such and the sequence of positive relationships is probably true, it is difficult
to explore this specific sequence of relationships in a single context, in this case post-initial in-service
teacher training, and in a single study. This is also true for initial full-time teacher education (model B).
Moreover, unlike model A, the first two relationships have also never been investigated in context B.
Basically, one can assume that the relationships with the anticipated influences in model A also apply to
teacher education institutes providing grade-two training for secondary education (model B), because
the essence of teacher training is the same in this context.
There are, however, some differences as well. The first is related to the length of the teacher education
programme leading to a grade-two teaching certificate. That is, nominally, four years, and it is quite
expensive to set up a research programme for that time period. Moreover, many intervening variables
come into play when investigating such a time period.
Another difference is that different courses are offered, so that it is difficult to come up with a single
measure for teacher training even for one year. It may be possible to develop a measure for teacher
training per discipline or group of courses.
Another difference is the target group for an initial full-time teacher education programme leading to a
grade-two teaching certificate. These are secondary school graduates, as opposed to the qualified
teachers who form the target group for post-initial in-service teacher training. The effect of teacher
education on beginning teacher quality and pupil performance is probably different for this younger
target group.
Figure 4 summarizes the theoretical relationships expected for initial full-time teacher education (leading
to a grade-two teaching certificate). For clarity and simplification, school and student characteristics are
left out in this figure. Again, the direct relationship between teacher education and pupil performance is
hypothesized (positive or negative, the research is not straightforward about this), because many studies
investigate this straightforward relationship and assume teacher quality to be a mediator. Future
research is needed to test the strength and influences of these relationships empirically in this particular
context.
20
OUN
Initial full-time teacher education:
1
Teacher education
+
2
Beginning teacher
quality
+
3
Pupil
performance
+
+
+/-
Figure 4:
Economic and
social
advantages,
micro level (for
individual)
Economic and
social
advantages,
macro level
(for a nation)
Hypothesized effects of teacher education in an initial full-time teacher education setting
2.4 Conclusion
This chapter began by assessing the value of a teacher and argued in favour of investing in teachers and
in teacher education and training. It then explored investment in teacher training / education and its
effects. Although research on the effect of teacher training and education on student learning is not
conclusive (although much research points in a positive direction), it is still important to invest in teacher
education and training, especially so as to make teacher education more attractive. Without properly
trained teachers, pupil learning will not be stimulated optimally and students will subsequently lose
money in the form of missed earnings in their later lives. This is because at the very least, teachers have
an important facilitating role in student learning. As stated, of the factors open to policy influences,
‘teacher quality’ is the single most important school variable influencing student achievement (OECD,
2005). This is why it is very important to work on and invest in teacher quality. This answers the first
component question of this study: why is it necessary to invest in teachers, teacher training and teacher
education?
Now that it is clear why it is important to invest in teachers, teacher training and teacher education, the
next question is how to do this cost-effectively. In the Netherlands, the focus in this discussion is almost
always on how to improve the quality of teacher training and education. Seldom does the discussion
focus on the yield of teacher training and how to invest in the most cost-effective manner (that is, to look
at both the cost and the quality). This is especially important in view of the trend towards lump-sum
financing in the Netherlands, whereby schools have the freedom to invest their money as they see fit. In
order to answer this question, it is first important to define the yield of teacher training and education, as
we do in the next chapter.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
21
22
OUN
3
Yield of teacher training and education
3.1 Introduction
The yield of teacher training is a broad subject and it is therefore difficult to provide an unambiguous
definition. This chapter will survey how the yield of teacher training is defined in the literature and how it
is used by important agencies such as the Dutch Ministry of Education. No such survey can be found in
the literature. As in chapter 2, the focus will be on the yield of initial full-time teacher education, with the
yield of post-initial in-service teacher training first being discussed in order to broaden our
understanding.
The yield of teacher training is defined in terms of quantity or quality. The Ministry of Education defines
the yield of teacher education as the number (or percentage) of students who graduate within five years
(OC&W, 2005). This is a very narrow definition that focuses only on quantity and not on quality. Another
form of quantity used in the literature is the costs per student. The quality of teacher training is a very
broad concept and can be defined in several ways. This will be dealt with later on in this chapter. In
conclusion, it is important to look at both the quantity (costs) and the quality of teacher training.
This chapter is organised as follows. The following section discusses the definition of teacher training
yield. The third section discusses the yield of post-initial in-service teacher training. The final section looks
at the yield of initial full-time teacher education.
3.2 Yield of teacher training defined
The literature (e.g. Jacob and Lefgren, 2002, Jung, 2005 and the OECD, 2005) allows us to derive a number
of characteristics that differentiate post-initial in-service teacher training from initial full-time teacher
education, as illustrated in table 2. The distinction between these two training modes was discussed
briefly in chapter 1, but further elaboration of specific differences is required in our discussion of the yield
of teacher training, as will become clear later on in this chapter.
Post-initial in-service teacher training
Initial full-time teacher education (grade-2 cert.)
*Target group: qualified teachers
*Target group: secondary school graduates
*Short period of time
*In general a 4-year programme
*Fixed and variable costs relatively easy to measure
*Fixed and variable costs more difficult to measure
Table 2:
Characteristics of post-initial in-service training and initial full-time teacher education
Chapter 1 referred to the difference in the target groups as the first distinction between the two training
modes. Another difference is that the duration of in-service teacher training is relatively short, especially
compared to a full initial teacher education programme. It ranges from a couple of workshops of an hour
to an average course of, for example, 60 hours (Jung, 2005). For the purposes of this paper, in-service
teacher training courses are, in line with Jung (2005), assumed to last 10 days (around 60 to 80 hours),
although most of the information presented here also applies to shorter courses. Four years is the
nominal duration of initial full-time teacher education. A final difference between in-service teacher
training and initial teacher education is that it is easier to measure the costs and the post-training quality
improvement of teachers in the former, making it possible to measure cost-effectiveness, for example
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
23
(Jung, 2005). The costs and effectiveness of initial teacher education are more difficult to define. For
example, the fixed and variable costs are relatively more difficult to measure because the cost structure of
(grade-2) teacher education programmes is more complex. The benefits, such as quality improvements,
are also more difficult to measure, mainly because the training takes much longer. This means that it is
much more expensive to set up a research programme. Moreover, the outcome of such a study is more
uncertain owing to the larger number of intervening variables.
Now that the differences between post-initial in-service teacher training and initial full-time teacher
education are clear, our focus can shift to the yield of teacher training. The literature defines the yield of
teacher training in terms of quantity and quality (e.g. OC&W, 2005; Cochran-Smith, 2005; Sociaal en
Cultureel Planbureau, 2002). Although the two are seldom linked, it is important to explore them in
combination. There is a difference between post-initial in-service teacher training and initial full-time
teacher education when it comes to their quantity and quality yields, even though there are also
similarities between the two. We will discuss this in detail in the following sections.
3.3 Yield of post-initial in-service teacher training
The yield of post-initial in-service teacher training is described in the literature in terms of quantity,
quality and a combination of the two. As stated and summarised in table 2, in-service teacher training has
a number of characteristics that distinguish it from a full initial teacher education curriculum. The final
characteristic mentioned, i.e. the relative ease of measuring the costs and quality improvements and the
possibility of comparing it with other cases, may offer suggestions for making teacher education more
cost-effective in general.
3.3.1 Quantity of post-initial in-service teacher training
When discussing quantity in relation to post-initial in-service teacher training, two measures appear to be
important (Jung, 2005; Rumble, 2001). The first is the number of participants who pass a course. This
measure can be easily calculated by multiplying the number of participants who start a course
(enrolment) with the dropout rate (the dropout rate as a percentage). In Jung (2005), participants who do
not pass a course are also regarded as dropouts. The second measure is the cost per participant. In the
case of in-service teacher training, a better and more precise measure is the cost per participant per
course (Rumble, 2001). A further distinction that must be made is the cost per enrolee and the cost per
participant completing the course (Jung, 2005). In general, the cost per participant completing the course
is a better measure for performance than the cost per enrolee because the dropout rate is also taken into
account.
Costs can be measured in different ways. Whalen and Wright (1999) provide a costing methodology
especially for an online training programme. They divided the costs into fixed capital costs and variable
operating costs. In most case studies, fixed and variable costs turn out to be the main cost categories (e.g.
Bartolic-Zlomislic and Bates, 1999; Jung, 2005 and Whalen and Wright, 1999). In addition, Rumble (2001)
also considers opportunity costs. In accordance with Jung (2005), the present study uses fixed, variable
and learner opportunity costs as the main categories of costing for a post-initial in-service teacher
training course.
Lowering the costs of a course lowers the costs per completing participant, but there are other ways to
decrease the costs per completing participant, as we will explain in the next chapter.
24
OUN
3.3.2 Quality of post-initial in-service teacher training
Although some studies only focus on the costs of delivering a course (e.g. Rumble, 2001), it is also
important to look at the quality of the course. In their case study assessing the costs and benefits of
telelearning, Bartolic-Zlomislic & Bates (1999) use quality data such as: 1) performance-driven benefits
such as learning outcomes and satisfaction; 2) value-driven benefits such as increased access, flexibility
and ease of use; and 3) societal or value-added benefits such as reduced traffic and pollution. Jung (2005)
also provides a useful framework for drawing conclusions about the quality of a post-initial in-service
teacher training context. This framework is based on Kirkpatrick’s (1998) four-level model of evaluation: at
Level 1 learners evaluate the training after completing the programme; Level 2 measures learning results;
Level 3 investigates whether or not learners’ behaviours actually change as a result of new learning; and
Level 4 measures the impact of the training programme. Kirkpatrick’s four-level model of evaluation is
well-known and often used to assess the effectiveness of training (Witziers, 2001). For example, it is also
used to assess the effectiveness of e-learning training programmes (Strother, 2002).
The three effectiveness levels used by Jung (2005) for post-initial in-service teacher training are: Level 1:
learners’ reaction to or satisfaction with the training approach; Level 2: learning outcomes in knowledge
acquisition and attitude; and Level 3: learners’ self-report on the actual use made of the subject taught (in
Jung’s case ICT) in their classroom teaching. Jung (2005) does not use the fourth level, i.e. the impact of
the training programme. In his view, it is rarely used in case studies because of the difficulty of gathering
the business or classroom data and the complexity of isolating the training intervention as a unique
variable. Although this may be true, it is important to also use other measures in order to determine the
quality of the course more objectively. The three levels that Jung (2005) uses focus mainly on quality as
perceived by the participants (Level 1 and Level 3), and that is quite subjective.
Jung (2005) measured the first level of evaluation (Learner satisfaction) by distributing a questionnaire to
teachers at the end of the training. The second level of evaluation (Learner outcomes) was measured by
looking at the learners’ final grades and attitude changes. The final grades included class attendance and
participation. Changes in attitude towards ICT use (Level 3) were investigated using pre-surveys and postsurveys.
3.3.3 Quantity (cost per participant) and quality combined
Combining quantity (in the form of cost per participant) and quality produces a cost-effectiveness
analysis. A cost-effectiveness analysis involves considering decision alternatives in a way that
systematically takes both their costs and consequences into account (Levin, 1995). Cost-effectiveness,
although closely related, must not be confused with cost-benefit analysis. Cost-benefit analysis is used to
address only those alternatives where the outcome can be measured in terms of monetary value.
Educational programmes, however, are dedicated to improving performance or some other outcome
that cannot be easily converted into monetary terms. In these cases, one must restrict the comparison of
alternatives to those that have similar goals by performing a cost-effectiveness analysis. A costeffectiveness analysis applied to educational programmes must also not be confused with a costeffectiveness analysis in business, where it is most often used to investigate how to produce as many
products as possible (which is then defined as effective) for the lowest cost. The purpose of a costeffectiveness analysis in education is to ascertain which programme or combination of programmes can
achieve particular objectives at the lowest cost. By choosing those with the least cost for a given
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
25
outcome, society can use its resources more effectively (Levin, 1995). In the case of a post-initial in-service
teacher training course, one important objective is that the course should be of outstanding quality. In
this way, quantity (cost per participant) and quality (effectiveness) can be combined. Indeed, it is only
when quantity and quality are combined that one can really refer to the yield of post-initial in-service
teacher training. How to improve the yield of teacher training will be discussed in chapter 4.
In Jung’s (2005) case study, quality is measured mainly by assessing the quality of the participants at the
end of the course. As stated, although the impact of the training programme on pupils in the classroom is
important, this effect is not measured. The assumption underlying this line of reasoning, which Jung
(2005) does not mention, is that teacher training in itself will lead to a better teacher performance and in
this way to better pupil performance, as discussed in chapter 2.
3.4 Yield of initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
This section will explore the yield of initial full-time teacher education. Initial full-time teacher education
has secondary school graduates as its target group; it lasts an average of four years; and its fixed and
variable costs are difficult to define. Like the yield of post-initial in-service teacher education, the yield of
initial full-time teacher education is described in the literature in terms of quantity and quality, although
there are important differences between the two. This is the first time that the yield of initial full-time
teacher education has been investigated in terms of quantity and quality combined. The following
section will discuss the yield of initial full-time teacher education in terms of quantity.
3.4.1 Quantity yield in initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
Like the quantity yield of post-initial in-service teacher training, two measures are important when
discussing the quantity yield of initial full-time teacher education. These measures have things in
common with the quantity measures for post-initial in-service teacher training, but there are also
differences. The first measure is the number of student teachers who graduate within five years. The
definition the Ministry of Education often uses when referring to the yield in initial full-time teacher
education is the number (or percentage) of student teachers who graduate within five years (OC&W,
2005). This is an important benchmark for schools, which receive money based on it (financing based on
output). Although the Ministry of Education refers to yield, this measure only focuses on quantity. It is not
yield in the economic sense, which also takes effects into account. So although the number of student
teachers who graduate within five years is a performance benchmark, the question is whether this is the
only performance benchmark on which to focus. Other benchmarks may be important too. The number
of student teachers who graduate within five years is similar to the number of participants who pass a
course, in the case of post-initial in-service teacher training, although there are a number of complicating
differences. For one, an initial full-time teacher education programme lasts much longer, on average four
years. The fact that student teachers may also take five or six years to graduate makes it even more
complicated. This is because the time period within which students are allowed to graduate varies. As will
be discussed in the next chapter, this means that there is an additional way to improve the cost per
completing student compared to post-initial in-service teacher training.
The second measure is the cost per student teacher. The Ministry of Education and other government
institutions seldom use this measure as a (performance) benchmark. As with post-initial in-service teacher
training, a further distinction that has to be made is the cost per enrolled student teacher and the cost
per completing student teacher. In general, the cost per completing student teacher is a better measure
26
OUN
of performance than the cost per enrolled student teacher. This is because the dropout rate and the
number of students who have passed are also taken into account. The cost per student teacher must not
be confused with the funding (in Dutch, bekostiging) the government pays to the institute per student;
that is the input side. Chapter 1 argues that the government must invest in teacher training, but this does
not mean that extra money alone will improve teachers and teacher training. The second part of this
paper (from chapter 3 onward) focuses on how to invest the extra money sensibly and cost–effectively,
the aim being to improve the cost per completing student teacher and maintaining or improving
effectiveness.
The cost structure of initial full-time teacher education institutes differs from the cost structure of postinitial in-service teacher training. This study used fixed, variable and learner opportunity costs as the main
cost categories for in-service teacher training. Although they differ, for simplicity’s sake these cost
categories (see table 3 below) can also be used for initial teacher education institutes. Learner
opportunity costs in particular are seldom used as a cost category for initial teacher education institutes.
Cost structure:
Fixed costs
Capital costs
Variable costs Operating costs
Post-initial in-service training
Initial full-time (grade-two) teacher
(face-to-face)
education
Categories
Categories
Classroom
Accommodation charges
Facility maintenance
Depreciation
Network use
Administration and control charges
Software purchase
Result from ordinary management
Staff salaries
Staff charges
Trainer fee
Special lecture fee
Delivery costs
Content writing
Administration and control charges
Material production
Classroom examination
Other consumables
Opportunity
Learners'
costs
opportunity costs Travel and labour
Table 3:
Travel and time (for students)
Cost structure of post-initial in-service training and initial full-time teacher education. Jung (2005) and
Jaarrekening Faculteit Educatieve Opleidingen (2004).
The cost categories in table 3 are only examples and it is not possible to make a one-to-one comparison
between a post-initial in-service training cost category (e.g. classroom) and an initial full-time teacher
education cost category in the same row (e.g. accommodation charges). A different classification is also
possible. Moreover, the cost categories of initial full-time teacher education as defined in table 3 are more
detailed. For example, depreciation covers intangible fixed assets, buildings, inventory, hard and software
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
27
(Faculteit Educatieve Opleidingen, 2004). Administration and control charges refer to material
production, travel expenses, ICT costs, student costs and other categories.
A final note is related to the (‘learners’) opportunity costs. In the case of post-initial in-service training,
travel and labour are costs that can be attributed to the school because the participants are employees of
that school. The school pays the cost of travel and days that teachers are not able to teach because they
are in post-initial in-service training. The opportunity costs for initial full-time teacher education (travel
and time) are covered by the individual student enrolled in initial full-time teacher education. These costs
are travel time to the institution and opportunity time, which can be expressed in the form of missed
earnings because the student cannot work while studying. It is important to bear this in mind as we
consider cost-effectiveness in chapter 4.
3.4.2 Quality of initial full-time teacher education (institutes)
Our measure of the quality of post-initial in-service teacher training was based on Kirkpatrick’s (1998)
four-level model of evaluation. As explained in section 2.3.2, Jung (2005) only uses the first three levels of
this model. The fourth level, the impact of the training programme, is not used because of the difficulty of
gathering the classroom data. Additionally, Jung (2005) mainly measures quality from the participants’
perspective, which is quite subjective. Kirkpatrick’s (1998) four-level model of evaluation is also used as a
framework in this section. Measuring these four levels provides the information needed to draw
conclusions about the quality of initial full-time (grade-two) teacher education. The fourth level will also
be explored. Where possible, pre-measurements and post-measurements should be performed on each
level. Measuring higher levels of effectiveness provides more insight into quality. This is the first survey of
its kind in the literature.
There are two groups who broadly judge the quality of initial full-time teacher education: interested or
dependent parties and independent parties. The interested parties are the participants, and they have a
direct connection with initial full-time teacher education. This means that they have more insight into the
quality of initial full-time teacher education, but their judgement could also be biased. It is more difficult
for the independent parties to determine quality, although their judgement is probably more objective.
The main parties in the interested group are student teachers, teachers (teacher-educators) and schools.
Schools are the future employers of student teachers. The key parties of the independent group are the
Netherlands’ and Flemish’ Accreditation Organisation (NVAO), the education inspectorates (both
government organisations) and science (scientific research). It is important to recognise that scientific
research is rarely used to evaluate teacher education in the Netherlands and that it tends to be
performed in other countries, such as the United States. Now that examples of the main parties have
been given, we will look at how the four levels can be measured and who already evaluates these levels.
If levels have not yet been evaluated, suggestions are given as to how this may be done in the future.
The first measurement level of Kirkpatrick’s (1998) four-level model of evaluation is Level 1: learners
evaluate the training after completing the programme. This evaluation is based on learners’ reaction to
the programme. It can be measured by distributing a questionnaire to student teachers at the end of, and
if possible also before, initial full-time teacher education. So, in the case of initial full-time teacher
education, an interested party (i.e. the student teachers) judges this level. This means that students can
judge the effectiveness of the initial teacher education programme. Initial full-time teacher education
28
OUN
institutes can themselves carry out this evaluation among their students. In addition, a national survey
conducted in 2005 focused on the degree of satisfaction of students enrolled in colleges of higher
professional education (OC&W, 2005). Initial full-time teacher institutes were also covered in this survey,
which was based, among others things, on the (college) level and the competencies that students had
acquired.
The second measurement level is Level 2: evaluation, which measures the learning results. Learning
results are defined as knowledge acquisition and change in attitude, which can be defined as
competencies. It is important to measure learning because no change in behaviour can be expected
unless one or more of the learning objectives have been achieved (Kirkpatrick, 1998). This level is
measured by looking at examinations and grades. To really measure what an institute adds when it
comes to learning, one idea is to examine student teachers at the start of their educational careers and
then again at the end (pre-measurement and post-measurement). It is common to measure and compare
pupil performance nationally in the Netherlands, but this does not apply to (beginning) teacher
performance. When applied to initial full-time teacher education, this level is initially judged by the
teachers (teacher-educators) at initial teacher education institutes, and then by the education
inspectorates, which look at whether the assessment process has been executed properly.
Level 3 considers whether or not learners’ behaviours actually change as a result of new learning. For inservice teacher training, this involved the learners’ self-report on the actual use of the relevant subject in
their classroom teaching. This third level is measured by distributing a questionnaire or by a more
elaborate evaluation method. In the case of initial teacher education, students (by then employees) and
schools (their employers) can determine or judge behaviour after the education programme. Beginning
teachers are asked whether the education they received is useful and has changed their behaviour in
class (for example the HBO-monitor, see ROA, 2004). Schools can judge beginning teachers when they
are teaching class. When schools judge this level, they do so on the basis of an evaluation of a new
teacher, most of the time by assessing competencies (for example the seven competencies developed by
SBL, www.lerarenweb.nl/sbl). Schools should also provide feedback on their judgement to initial teacher
education institutes.
The final measurement level is Level 4, which measures the impact of the training programme. Evaluating
results in terms of the impact of the training programme constitutes the greatest challenge. We ought to
be able to show tangible results that more than pay for the cost of the training (Kirkpatrick, 1998).
Although it is difficult to gather classroom data (Jung, 2005), it is important to apply this concept to initial
teacher education and to think of ways of measuring this final level. In scientific research, especially in the
United States, the impact of the training programme is often measured in terms of pupil achievement
(pupils in the relevant teacher’s class) in the form of test scores (Cochran-Smith, Marilyn, 2005; Jacob and
Lefgren, 2002). Statistics and research on this topic are scarce in the Netherlands. Students do pass some
form of judgement about the impact of their education programme in the HBO-monitor (ROA, 2004), an
instrument with which colleges can assess the labour market position of their graduates every year.
Students can use this tool to determine how well their schooling and professional practice are matched.
The data comes from a survey conducted among students. Example questions are: how successful is the
student on the labour market? Was the quality of their schooling good enough to prepare for the job
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
29
they now occupy? Concluding, groups who judge this final level are independent researchers and
students.
Although Kirkpatrick’s four-level model of evaluation is a useful framework that provides information
about the quality of initial full-time teacher education, it will never be possible to come up with one
quality measure or performance benchmark that includes all four levels. This is also not the intention of
Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluation. The four levels are a sequence, and when moving from one to the next,
the process becomes more difficult and time-consuming, but it also provides more valuable information.
The evaluation should proceed to the next level, if time and money are available. In this way, it is
important to determine which levels (or benchmarks) for initial full-time teacher education can in fact be
monitored, both in time and money, and to come up with a scale of measurement. Some levels are
perhaps more and some less important to monitor than others. For example, evaluation (satisfaction or
level 1) may be less important in education than in business because students generally do not return the
way loyal customers do. It would be a good idea to let schools, which hire student teachers in the end,
weigh up and prioritise these levels. Although important, further exploration of which levels or
benchmarks are feasible to measure is beyond the scope of this study.
3.4.3 Quantity (cost per student) and quality (effectiveness) combined
As already stated in section 3.3.3, educational courses are dedicated to improving achievement or some
other educational outcome that cannot be easily converted into monetary terms. One important
consideration in this context is whether it is useful to try to convert the outcome (usually quality or
effectiveness) into money anyway, in order to calculate the cost-benefit and perform a Return on
Investment (ROI) analysis. For example, Jack Phillips (2003) tries to convert the effectiveness of training
programmes into money. In doing so, he adds a fifth level to Kirkpatrick’s four-level model of evaluation.
When effectiveness is expressed in monetary terms, we can speak of (monetary) benefits and only then
can we perform cost-benefit and ROI analysis, assuming the costs are known. These kinds of analysis have
been performed in corporate training programmes (e.g. Groot, 1994 and Van Sandick and SchaapNeuteboom, 1993), but have never been performed in education. Moreover, the outcomes of these kinds
of analysis in business are certainly not conclusive and sometimes even speculative. The biggest
problems are which multiplier or coefficient to use in order to express effectiveness in monetary terms
(e.g. the Dollarcriterium Method; for a detailed discussion, see Van Sandick and Schaap-Neuteboom,
1993, p. 12).
In the light of these problems, and because no research has been carried out in the Netherlands on using
cost-benefit analysis in education, it is difficult enough to limit the comparison of alternatives to those
that have similar goals (effectiveness) by comparing them through cost-effectiveness analysis. The
purpose of cost-effectiveness analysis in education is to ascertain which programmes can achieve
particular objectives at the lowest cost (Levin, 1995). Quantity (cost) and quality (effectiveness) can be
combined in this way for initial full-time teacher education programmes. This is the same principle
discussed in section 3.3.3 in the case of post-initial in-service teacher training (Jung, 2005). The challenge
in this kind of analysis is to define the cost structure and effectiveness of initial full-time teacher
education, as became clear in the previous two sections, and to compare the different programmes.
Figure 5 reviews the cost structure and effectiveness as used in this study. When we combine cost per
graduate and effectiveness, we produce the benchmark cost per graduate effectiveness (explained in
30
OUN
more detail in chapter 4). The following chapter will discuss how to compare different programmes using
a cost-effectiveness analysis and how to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial full-time teacher
education.
Costs (per graduate)
Costs for education institute:
*Fixed costs
*Variable costs
Costs for student:
*Opportunity costs: travel
*Opportunity costs: time
Effectiveness (quality) of education
*Level 1) Reaction: evaluation by students
*Level 2) Learning results of students
*Level 3) Behaviour of students in workplace
*Level 4) Result of education on pupil
achievement in classroom / match between
schooling and professional practice
Costs per graduate effectiveness
Figure 5:
Review of cost structure and effectiveness of initial teacher education, leading to the benchmark: costs per
graduate effectiveness (or cost-effectiveness per graduate)
3.5 Conclusion
This chapter answered component question 2: How is the yield of teacher training and education defined? It
is difficult to give an unambiguous definition of the yield of teacher training and education. It can be
defined in terms of quantity and quality. The focus in this study is on initial full-time teacher education,
and post-initial in-service teacher training is used to gain insight into the topic. As summarised in table 2,
in-service teacher training has a number of characteristics that distinguish it from initial full-time teacher
education.
The Ministry of Education uses the number or percentage of student teachers graduating within five
years as the most important benchmark for the quantitative yield of teacher education. The question is
whether this is the only benchmark to monitor. It does not, for example, take costs and quality into
account.
The costs of initial full-time teacher education and post-initial in-service training can be broken down into
fixed costs, variable costs and opportunity costs. Kirkpatrick’s (1998) four-level evaluation model of
training programmes is used in this study as a framework for classifying the quality measures of initial
full-time teacher education. It will never be possible to come up with one quality measure or benchmark
for initial teacher education that includes all four levels. That is why it is important to determine which
quality benchmarks for initial full-time teacher education can be monitored (both in time and money)
and to come up with a scale of measurement. In addition, it is important to foster a climate of
measurement and comparison in teacher education and between teachers, in the same way as already
occurs for pupil performance in schools.
An important consideration in this context is whether it is useful to try to convert the outcome (quality or
effectiveness of teacher education) into money, in order to calculate the cost-benefit and perform a
Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. Because it is difficult to analyse the ROI of training programmes in
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
31
business life, and because this measure has never been applied in education in the Netherlands, it is
already a challenge to limit the comparison of alternatives to those that have similar educational goals
(effectiveness) by applying cost-effectiveness analysis. Combining quantity (costs per graduate) and
quality (effectiveness) produces a new benchmark for initial full-time teacher education: costeffectiveness per graduate. Again, it must be stressed that institutes need to be careful with this
benchmark and use it as a peer-review tool. Institutes which only focus on this benchmark risk neglecting
other important matters. Comparing different programmes by means of cost-effectiveness analysis will
be the topic of the following chapter.
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4
Improving the cost-effectiveness of teacher education
4.1 Introduction
The previous chapter defined yield and cost-effectiveness. Because there is very little literature on this
topic in the Netherlands, the literature on post-initial in-service teacher training was used. This chapter
will focus on improving the cost-effectiveness (meaning costs and quality) of initial (grade-two) teacher
education. This chapter starts again with a review of how to improve the cost-effectiveness of post-initial
in-service teacher training. Besides effectiveness, cost-effectiveness is influenced by three factors:
enrolment, dropout rate and costs.
Like post-initial in-service teacher training, the cost-effectiveness of initial full-time teacher education can
be improved by means of several factors. The starting point for this discussion will concern how to
decrease the cost factors while keeping an eye on effectiveness (quality).
This chapter is organised as follows. Firstly, it will investigate the cost-effectiveness of post-initial inservice teacher training in order to understand how to improve cost-effectiveness. After this, it will
explore how the cost-effectiveness of initial full-time teacher education can be improved by online
teacher education. In other words, how can we lower costs and at the same time maintain or increase
quality by means of online education? This chapter ends with alternative options for increasing the costeffectiveness of initial teacher education, both on an institute and national level.
4.2 Improving cost-effectiveness (yield) of post-initial in-service teacher training
It is important to recognise that cost-effectiveness analysis always compares two (or more) cases. The
easiest way is to compare two different cases and determine which one is better, as in Jung’s case (2005),
which will be described in this section. It is also possible to make adjustments to a course and measure
the cost-effectiveness of that same course at two points in time to see whether there has been any
improvement. In this way, existing courses can be monitored and improved.
The cost-effectiveness of a training course can be improved by reducing the cost per completing
participant and at the same time keeping the quality of the course at the same level or maybe even
improving it. It is not the purpose of this study to define ways of improving the quality of a course with
regard to its content, but it is important to monitor quality when analysing case studies.
The cost per completing participant (and in this sense, the cost-effectiveness) of a post-initial in-service
teacher training course can be improved by influencing three factors. First of all, it can be improved by
reducing the costs of the course. Secondly, it can be improved by increasing enrolment. Finally, it can be
improved by reducing the dropout rate. The case of Jung (2005) will now be used to illustrate this.
Jung (2005) measured the cost-effectiveness of online teacher training. The study compared the costeffectiveness of an online teacher training method with a face-to-face training method for teaching ICT
integration in the school curriculum. The face-to-face teacher training lasted 10 days and provided 80
teachers with 60 hours of training. The online teacher training also lasted 60 hours but had an enrolment
of 108 people.
The costs were broken down into fixed costs, variable costs and learner opportunity costs. Fixed costs
(mostly materials development) included costs incurred for facilities, hardware, software and online
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
33
programme development. Variable costs (mostly course delivery) were defined as staff salaries, trainer
fees, special lecture fees and course delivery costs. Learner opportunity costs were the average salary
costs for learners and travel costs.
As previously stated, effectiveness or quality was measured in terms of the learners’ satisfaction with the
training approach, learning outcomes with respect to knowledge acquisition and attitude, and learners’
self-report on the actual use of ICT in their classroom teaching. Jung (2005) compared the costeffectiveness of face-to-face and online training by looking at the unit cost-effectiveness (see table 4).
This measure was calculated by adding all the effectiveness (or quality) points (satisfaction, learning
achievement and actual use) and dividing the cost per completing participant by the total effectiveness
points per completing participant.
Training modes Cost per completing
participant
Total effectiveness points per completing
participant (total 300 points)
Cost per unit Effectiveness
Face-to-face
US$ 1614
244
US$ 6.7
Online
US$ 901
242
US$ 3.7
Table 4:
Cost per unit effectiveness (including opportunity costs of learners), Jung (2005)
The table shows that the total effectiveness or quality of the two training courses does not differ that
much, although the effectiveness was not entirely the same on the three effectiveness levels. Satisfaction
was the same for the two modes (Level 1), face-to-face training was a bit more effective than online
training for learning results (Level 2) and the actual use of ICT in the classroom was almost the same
(Level 3).
Table 4 also shows that the cost-effectiveness per unit was lower for the online training course than the
face-to-face training course. This means that the difference in cost-effectiveness can mainly be attributed
to the difference in cost per completing participant. Moreover, this difference can primarily be ascribed to
the difference in (total) costs. More specifically, the opportunity costs (consisting of average salary costs
for learners and travel costs) were much higher for the face-to-face training mode than the online
training mode (Jung, 2005). In the end, this may well lead to a cost reduction for the training institute as
well. The cost reduction can be achieved over time because more participants are likely to enrol in an
online training course, as it saves them travel time, money and effort. Economies of scale can thus be
achieved.
The increase in enrolment is the second factor that could improve the cost per completing participant, as
already mentioned. In traditional face-to-face in-service teacher training, the cost per completing
participant will only improve when cost savings can be achieved by one trainer teaching 25 participants
rather than 15, for example. However, a classroom can only hold so many participants. This means that
there are also limits to the cost-effectiveness of increasing enrolment. In general, the cost-effectiveness of
online teacher training increases as the number of participants (or enrolment) increases (Jung & Leem,
2001 and Jung, 2003). Online teacher training places fewer limits on cost-effectiveness because trainers
can more easily supervise more participants and do this flexibly, as they are not bound to a maximum
number of participants per class. Moreover, participants can more easily study independently with the
help of ICT. This means the potential to deliver training to a larger number of participants is more flexible
and cost-effective for an online in-service training course than face-to-face training. Having the potential
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does not automatically mean that you can also attract a larger number of participants. As said, online
teacher training could attract a larger number of participants because it saves them travel time, money
and effort, but there are other ways to attract more participants. When a training institute is able to
improve the quality of the course and make this clear to its target group, enrolment may well increase. It
is therefore not only important to maintain or improve quality but even more important to ‘market’ the
improvement to the target group, in this case qualified teachers.
Finally, the cost per completing participant can be improved by reducing the dropout rate and increasing
the number of participants who pass a course. The first and maybe most important cause of dropouts is
the participant’s lack of motivation. Motivation is a complex concept. It consists, for example, of
individual motivation and the motivation of other participants, which influences individual motivation.
The quality of the course and the level of difficulty also influence motivation. It is beyond the scope of
this paper to explore how to improve the quality of a course in terms of content and to go more deeply
into the concept of motivation.
4.3 Improving the cost-effectiveness (yield) of initial full-time teacher education
To find out how to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education, we need to compare
alternative programmes with similar goals. Because ICT use is becoming more common in teacher
training and education (see for example the Ruud de Moor Centrum in the Netherlands,
http://portal.rdmc.ou.nl/portal) and its importance is widely accepted, the next section will compare the
cost-effectiveness of face-to-face teacher education with online teacher education. The same approach
will be followed as in the previous section on post-initial in-service teacher training. One restriction is that
the focus will be on managing the costs. Again, the discussion will concern initial teacher education,
more specifically leading to a grade-two teaching certificate for secondary school education. Section
4.3.2 will investigate alternative options for improving cost-effectiveness by managing costs while
monitoring effectiveness or quality. Most of the ideas in this section, especially section 4.3.2, are based on
expert opinions (see appendix B).
4.3.1 Improving cost-effectiveness by means of online teacher education
First of all, it is important to note that the line between strict face-to-face teacher education and online
teacher education is blurring nowadays. The Internet did not exist a couple of decades ago, and
education was entirely face-to-face in the Netherlands. Nowadays, entirely face-to-face teacher education
is becoming extinct. Why still compare the cost-effectiveness of face-to-face teacher education with
online teacher education? Because it forces us to think critically about the costs and effectiveness of faceto-face teacher education, online teacher education, and modes in between the two.
Section 4.2 compared the cost-effectiveness of an online teacher training method with a face-to-face
teacher training method. The setting was a post-initial in-service teacher training course. As with the
cost-effectiveness of a training course, lowering the costs per graduate and improving the quality or
effectiveness of the programme can improve the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education. Section
4.2 revealed that three factors influence the cost per completing participant, and in this way costeffectiveness, in the case of post-initial in-service teacher training. These are the costs (fixed, variable and
opportunity), the enrolment, and the dropout rate. In case of initial full-time teacher education, a fourth
factor influences the costs per graduate. This factor is the lengths of time students take to complete their
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
35
studies (duration of study). The nominal term of initial full-time teacher education is four years, but
students often take five or six years to graduate. When we decrease the average duration of study for an
initial full-time teacher education programme, the costs per graduate also diminish. These four factors,
together with effectiveness, influence the performance benchmark: cost-effectiveness per graduate.
Figure six summarises these factors.
Effectiveness
-Fixed costs
-Variable costs
-Opportunity costs
Cost-effectiveness per
graduate
Enrolment
Dropout
Duration of study
Figure 6:
Factors influencing the cost-effectiveness per graduate
Research to date indicates that distance learning, in a variety of modalities, is typically as effective as
teaching in conventional classrooms, at least when effectiveness is measured by academic achievement
(LeBaron and Tello, 1998 and Russell, 1998). This was also one of the outcomes of Jung’s (2005) online
teaching case, although the learning results of face-to-face training were a little better than online
training. For now, then, we will assume that the effectiveness of online teacher education is almost equal
to that of courses delivered in a classroom, and we will not investigate this any further. In considering
how to improve the cost-effectiveness per graduate for initial full-time teacher education, this section will
focus on the cost factors in figure six.
A reason to start our discussion by looking at the cost factors is that these factors made the difference in
the post-initial in-service teacher training case and because it is quite unusual in education to think about
costs, and how to lower them. However, the other factors in figure 6 are also very important. Chapter 3
explained that costs are broken down into roughly three categories: fixed (capital) costs, variable
(operating) costs and opportunity costs. These will be discussed in the following sections. Before
exploring the influence of online teacher education on opportunity costs, it is important to make one
distinction.
An important difference between initial teacher education and post-initial in-service teacher training is
that the opportunity costs are borne by the students instead of the schools. When post-initial in-service
teacher training costs teachers money in the form of travel expenses and time, schools compensate
them. Because these costs are allocated to the schools, they are clear. The cost associated with travel and
time in initial teacher education are borne by the students themselves and are therefore not immediately
noticed by initial teacher education institutes. However, lower costs for students associated with travel
and time can ultimately result in cost savings for teacher education institutes when student enrolment
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increases (because students appreciate the institute for giving them these opportunity cost savings) and
economies of scale can be achieved.
Online teacher education could lead to lower opportunity travel and time costs for students and higher
enrolment, resulting in economies of scale. With student intake being quite low, higher enrolment levels
are essential for some initial grade-two teacher education institutes in the Netherlands. Section 4.2
showed that, while maintaining effectiveness, the opportunity costs (in the form of the learners’ average
salary costs) and travel costs were much higher for the face-to-face training mode compared to the
online training mode (Jung, 2005).
The influence of online teacher education on fixed and variable costs is shown in figure 7.
Total costs
Classroom
Online
Fixed *
*
Slope = Variable costs
costs
Breakeven Number
of Students
Figure 7:
Number of students
Fixed and variable costs of online teacher education.
Adapted from Whalen and Wright (1999)
Online training has higher fixed costs than classroom-based training; however, these higher course
development costs are offset by lower variable costs in course delivery (see slope in figure 7). This is
mainly due to the reduction in course delivery time (course compression) and the potential to deliver
courses to a larger number of students than is possible in a traditional classroom without incurring
significant incremental costs. This means that achieving savings for online courses requires a sufficient
number of students in order to recover course development costs (Whalen and Wright, 1999). One
advantage of online education is that it is possible to reach a sufficient number of students because, for
example, it is possible to offer lectures more flexibly over a longer period of time. However, this means
that it takes time before an institute can fully benefit from ICT, especially considering that students and
teachers need to adjust to new ICT products and online education. Initial teacher education institutes
must be aware of this fact when investing in ICT and online courses.
It appears that a higher level of investment in ICT is needed. For example, in Jung’s (2005) case ICT
expenses related to hardware and software (in other words, minus development) account for 15% of the
cost of offering the online teacher education course. The ICT expenses associated with an initial (gradetwo) teacher education institute in the Netherlands are only 4% of the total expenses, and the investment
comes to only 1% of the expense (calculations based on Faculteit Educatieve Opleidingen, 2004). Once
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
37
students are aware of the lower opportunity costs of online teacher education, the higher enrolment
levels will lead to an improvement in cost-effectiveness. However, it is important to communicate and
‘market’ these lower opportunity costs and benefits to students, a goal that requires time and
commitment.
One critical comment must be made with respect to the balance between online and face-to-face teacher
education. A strict online teacher education programme will probably never be possible. The face-to-face
component will always be an important part of education, particularly with respect to the behavioural
components of learning. In particular, the face-to-face element offers an important quality guarantee
when educating beginning teachers as opposed to qualified teachers. The challenge in the future is to
investigate when to use online education (probably more for cognitive learning) and when to make use
of face-to-face education (probably more suitable for the behavioural component of learning). The
ultimate quest is to find out the most cost-effective mix of online and face-to-face education. Expert 5
also emphasised the importance of research on when to use ICT in education and how to do this
effectively and efficiently (see appendix B). According to him, it is no longer a question of whether to use
ICT in education, but of when and how to use it.
4.3.2 Alternative options for improving the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education
The previous section focused on teacher education institutes, but improving cost-effectiveness is also
important on a national scale. This section will first explore other programmes or options for teacher
education institutes and then briefly investigate some programmes on a national scale. Again, the
starting point for the discussion will be how to lower the costs while keeping an eye on effectiveness or
quality.
Institute level
The first recommendation, and a necessary condition for any other improvement programmes, is to keep
better track of the institute’s financial situation (as recorded in its annual accounts) and of its costs
(accountability). The Dutch Education Inspectorate also supports this recommendation. Without records,
it is impossible to compare costs and find out how to spend money in a way that benefits quality. For
example, four of the seven initial grade-two teacher education institutes in the Netherlands only record
financial figures at (a higher) institute level, and not at faculty level (Inspectie van onderwijs, 2005). Expert
3 agrees that initial teacher education institutes do not keep very good track of their costs at the
moment. In addition, expert 3 says that the quality of the budgets and the way these are drawn up are
inadequate, mainly because of time constraints, unfamiliarity with the subject, unwillingness and a lack of
understanding of numbers. This expert also criticises the quality judgement of the education
inspectorate and quality control by initial teacher education institutes. All initial teacher education
institutes in the Netherlands must work on keeping better track of their costs and their financial situation.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has to formulate more precisely what costs must be
recorded and what goals, in terms of effectiveness and quality, they want the teacher education institutes
to achieve with this money. It may also be a good idea to allocate a budget to faculties instead of to the
entire higher education institute.
In considering how to improve cost-effectiveness, an important point is to appoint teachers and
employees to the right positions. This becomes clear when we see that about 75% of total teacher
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education expenses are teacher and employee expenses. Expert 2 agrees with this, but says that it is not
always easy to transfer staff from one job to another. One programme that is already being run in many
schools and teacher education institutes involves differentiation in the teaching profession (expert 1).
One example is the teaching assistant. Expert 1 thinks such professional differentiation should be
extended. Another – as yet uncommon – example at a higher professional level is a teacher who also
conducts applied research. When teaching has more professional ‘levels’, it becomes possible for
individuals to have actual careers in teaching, something that will upgrade the profession and improve
quality. Another option, related to differentiation, is specialisation. For example, an initial teacher
education institute could hire a full-time IT specialist. The advantage of differentiation and specialization
is that it makes wage differentiation possible (i.e. wage scales), leading to a more flexible and potentially
cost-effective way to invest in teacher and employee expenses.
For this to be possible, employee costs must be accurately tracked. At present, employee costs are only
recorded in general in the annual accounts of initial teacher education institutes. These costs must be
tracked in detail, something that could lead to more net teaching time, because detailed tracking makes
clear what tasks and jobs contribute to net teaching time. When employee costs are kept better track of,
it also becomes possible to compare institutes on costs and evaluate the cost-effectiveness in terms of
employee expenses.
Another programme involves integrating different subjects (mainly didactical and pedagogical subjects)
into courses for student teachers in various teacher education programmes (experts 2 and 4). This
approach, the ‘multidisciplinary teaching of general subjects’ (vakoverstijgend aanbieden van algemene
vakken, as it is called in Dutch) is already being used at some initial teacher education institutes, but not
enough according to expert 4. It is an especially important approach for courses with a low student
intake (for example science and maths courses). By combining courses, one can achieve sufficient scale in
the number of student teachers per course, leading to lower costs (Inspectie van onderwijs, 2005). An
often-heard criticism is that this measure has a negative effect on the quality or effectiveness of the
courses concerned. Expert 2 thinks this effect is not really that negative for didactical and pedagogical
subjects.
The final idea, with regard to teachers and employees, is to increase the number of students (per teacher)
in a classroom for certain courses. The result is more cost-effective education. A frequent criticism of this
proposal is that the quality of education decreases as the number of students increases. There have been
studies on how a decrease in the number of students affects quality and student performance (see e.g.
Ronning and Oosterbeek, 2006 and Dobbelsteen, et al. 2002). In general, there is no effect, and in some
cases even a small positive effect. Personal experience has shown that when a group of students is really
small, the quality even decreases because there is less interaction between students. There has been
almost no research on the effect of a sharp increase in the number of students. Such research is needed
to explore which factors influence and mediate the effect of a sharp increase in the number of students in
a classroom on the quality of education, for example by measuring student performance. Factors that
may be of influence are the quality and experience of a teacher, and the content of a course; some
courses are simply easier to teach to large groups.
The final programme at institute level involves decreasing overheads. Contrary to popular belief, pure
overheads (administration and control charges) account for only 15% of the total costs of initial teacher
education institutes (Faculteit Educatieve Opleidingen, 2004). Many discussions also take housing
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
39
charges into account, leading to a higher estimate of the overheads. It is difficult to decrease housing
charges at institute level. Most initial teacher education institutes have already economised on pure
overheads, and according to expert 2, it is hard to economise any further. According to the Inspectorate
(2005), one possible approach to spending less on overheads is to make more use of institution-wide
facilities (an initial teacher education institute is almost always part of a larger college of higher
professional education).
National level
The main advantage of online teacher education on a national scale is that it facilitates close cooperation
between initial teacher education institutes. According to expert 5 online teacher education is necessary
to reach enough students and to offer programmes cost-effectively, especially in the case of institutes
(e.g. science and mathematics institutes) that do not have enough students to operate in an
economically sound manner.
Online teacher education on a national scale could improve cost-effectiveness in a few different ways.
First of all, it makes it possible to concentrate the physical presence (in the form of buildings) of teacher
education institutes in one place, resulting in a scale that ensures a sufficient number of students and
reduces costs. This could mean that some of the smaller institutes will disappear. For students who have
to travel longer distances, physical contact-hours should be clustered, a suggestion brought forward by
expert 2. His idea is to offer a few high quality seminars, for example five times a year, and to support
additional learning through ICT and online education. This means student teachers learn the basics at
home with the help of online education and discuss the more difficult concepts face-to-face during high
quality and intensive sessions of one or maybe a couple of days. To foster commitment among the
participants, especially in online education, it is important to offer these intensive sessions at the
beginning of the course in particular. In addition, to make the idea more attractive to students, they
could be offered free transport to the seminars and be served lunch. It could be made even more efficient
if students are able to work during travel time. It is common for students attending commercial training
programmes in business to attend quality seminars in one place and to be offered transport to that
location. It is difficult to predict the costs and effectiveness of such an idea, and it should be tested first in
a pilot programme, for example for short courses in science and mathematics.
In addition, on a national scale, it is possible to cluster students from different institutes, especially those
taking the same course with few students, into a single virtual group (expert 5). Online education would
be an important means of facilitating communication within this virtual group.
In general, we will need to come up with new logistic and infrastructure strategies for using the full
capacity of initial teacher education, for example by making more efficient use of buildings and through
cooperation with schools. Although cooperation is a good thing in many fields, enough competition
must remain to stimulate improvements in areas such as quality.
4.4 Conclusion
This chapter dealt with component question 3: How can we improve yield of teacher education? Chapter 3
stated that it is difficult to analyse a purely economic yield for teacher education by performing costbenefit and Return on Investment (ROI) analyses for initial full-time teacher education. It is already a
challenge to limit the comparison of alternatives to those that have similar goals (effectiveness or quality)
40
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by applying cost-effectiveness analysis. That is why this chapter looked at how to improve the yield in
terms of the cost-effectiveness of teacher education. In other words, how can one lower costs and
maintain or improve the quality of teacher education. Indeed, when cost-effectiveness improves, the
cost-benefit and ROI of teacher education will also increase.
This chapter began by investigating the cost-effectiveness of post-initial in-service teacher training in
order to gain an understanding of how to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial full-time (grade-two)
teacher education.
It then investigated how the cost-effectiveness (yield) of initial full-time teacher education could be
improved. Online teacher education lowers the opportunity costs for student teachers. A cost reduction
for students could lead to higher enrolments in initial teacher education institutes, improving costeffectiveness. Online-based training (and education) has higher fixed costs than classroom-based
training; however, the higher course development costs are offset by lower variable costs in course
delivery. Although online teacher education probably improves cost-effectiveness in the long run, the
challenge is to investigate when to use online education and when to use face-to-face education. The
ultimate quest is to find out the most cost-effective mix of online and face-to-face education.
Several recommendations have been made to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education
both at institute level and on a national scale. The first recommendation (institute level) is to keep better
track of the institute’s financial situation (as documented in its annual accounts) and costs
(accountability). Another recommendation, already undertaken in many schools and teacher education
institutes, involves differentiation and specialisation in the teaching profession. One advantage of
differentiation and specialisation is wage differentiation (wage scales), leading to a more flexible and
potentially cost-effective way to spend money on teacher and employee expenses. The main advantage
of online teacher education on a national scale is that it facilitates close cooperation between initial
teacher education institutes. Such cooperation could lead to innovative ideas that will potentially
improve cost-effectiveness.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
41
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5
Conclusion
5.1 Introduction
This chapter begins by summarising the answers to all the component questions, the most important
research findings and the research constraints (Conclusion). Doing so provides an answer to the main
problem statement, defined in the introductory chapter: Why is it necessary to invest in teachers and
teacher education and how can the yield of teacher training and education be defined and improved? The
chapter then discusses recommendations for future research, and ends with practical recommendations
for teacher education institutes.
5.2 Conclusion
The first component question in this study, answered in chapter 2, was: Why is it necessary to invest in
teachers, teacher training and teacher education? First, we calculated the value of a teacher. The net value
was estimated at EUR 450,000 per year, a figure based on the additional earnings that one extra year of
education represents for a class of students later on, taking into account the costs of education. Besides
the extra income that students will earn later, education also yields other benefits for individuals and
society. These examples make clear why it is so important to invest in teachers. The next question was
how to invest in teachers: raise their salaries, reduce class sizes or invest in training? Research (Angrist and
Lavy, 2001) shows that one good way is to invest in teacher training and education. To explore this
further, we investigated the effects of teacher training and teacher education. Studies reveal that teacher
training has a positive influence on teacher quality and teacher quality a positive influence on pupil
performance. Pupil performance furthermore has a positive influence on the economic and social
advantages at micro (for an individual) and macro (for a nation) level. These are also the effects of initial
teacher education, although there are some differences with teacher training. Of the factors that can be
influenced by policy, ‘teacher quality’ is the single most important school variable influencing student
achievement (OECD, 2005). In summary, this makes clear why it is necessary to invest in teacher training
and teacher education.
Some constraints apply and put these conclusions into perspective. First of all, the (net) value of a teacher
(EUR 450,000) is subject to a number of conditions. One important assumption is that a teacher makes
the main contribution to one year of a student’s education. This is basically true, because if the teacher
were not there, education would not be possible and the student’s learning potential could not be
exploited. However, this assumption is still open to discussion. Another assumption is that all the
students will work full time during their entire working lives. This is why it is better to define the (net)
value of a teacher as the teacher’s potential value. The effects of teacher training and education are also
subject to a number of conditions. While all the individual relationships of the effects of teacher training
have been investigated as such, it is difficult to investigate this specific sequence of relationships in a
single context and in a single study. Moreover, the effects of initial full-time grade-two teacher education
(model B in figure 1, chapter 2), more specifically the individual relationships, have never been
investigated before. However, because the essence of teacher training and teacher education is the
same, we could hypothesise that the individual relationships, with the expected (positive) influences, are
the same for initial full-time grade-two teacher education. Compared to teacher training, the differences
that might influence these relationships are the duration of initial teacher education (on average four
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
43
years), the different and multiple courses offered, and the different target group for teacher education
(mainly secondary school graduates).
Now that the importance to invest in teachers, teacher training and education is clear, the next question
is how to do this cost-effectively. In the Netherlands, the focus is almost always on the quality of teacher
training and education, and seldom on yield and cost-effectiveness. In order to answer this question, it is
important to first explore how the yield of teacher training and education is defined. Chapter 3 dealt with
component question 2: How is the yield of teacher training and education defined? It is difficult to give a
clear-cut definition of the yield of teacher training and education: it can be described in terms of quantity
and quality. In the Netherlands, the Ministry of Education uses the number (or percentage) of student
teachers who graduate within five years as an important benchmark for the quantitative yield of teacher
education. The question is whether this benchmark is the only important one. It does not, for instance,
take costs and quality into account. In general, we need to come up with a different and more
transparent incentive structure for schools and educational institutes, especially given the trend towards
lump-sum financing.
The costs of initial full-time teacher education, like post-initial in-service training, can be broken down
into fixed costs, variable costs and opportunity costs. To categorize quality measures for initial full-time
teacher education, this study uses Kirkpatrick’s (1998) four-level evaluation model of training
programmes as a framework. Combining quantity (costs per graduate) and quality (effectiveness) leads
to a new benchmark for initial full-time teacher education: cost-effectiveness per graduate. This
benchmark resembles yield in the strict economic sense of cost-benefit and Return on Investment (ROI)
analysis. In order to perform ROI kinds of analyses, the outcome (quality or effectiveness of teacher
education) has to be expressed in financial figures. Because it has proved to be difficult to apply this kind
of analysis to training programmes in business life (see Groot, 1994 and Van Sandick and SchaapNeuteboom, 1993) and it has also never been applied to education in the Netherlands, it is already a
challenge to limit the comparison of alternatives to those that have comparable educational objectives
(effectiveness) by comparing them through cost-effectiveness analysis.
Some constraints also apply to chapter 3, first of all with respect to the cost and quality categories used
for initial full-time (grade-two) teacher education qualifying for secondary education. First of all, the fixed,
variable and learner opportunity cost categories can be subdivided into more specified categories. These
sub-categories differ depending on the particular initial teacher education institute involved. It is difficult,
but not impossible; to compare institutes in terms of these sub-categories, however they must be
simplified.
Although Kirkpatrick’s four-level model of evaluation is a useful framework that provides information on
the quality of initial full-time teacher education, it will probably not be possible in the future to come up
with one quality measure that includes all four levels. Moreover, measuring these levels in practice is a
significant problem. The fourth level in particular – the impact of education, defined as the result of
education on pupil achievement in the classroom – is difficult to measure. It should be noted that this
fourth level is also difficult to measure when commercial training programmes are concerned, even
though Kirckpatrick’s model of evaluation is already used and tested in the business world.
The new benchmark for initial full-time teacher education, cost-effectiveness per graduate, is also subject
to some constraints. First of all, is it in fact useful to calculate a benchmark that combines costs and
effectiveness when it is already difficult to measure these costs and effectiveness in itself? Still, the most
44
OUN
important contribution of this benchmark is that it gives education institutes a tool that helps them look
at quality and at whether money contributes to quality. It can therefore be used as a peer-review
benchmark among education institutes. Moreover, this benchmark can be useful even when only the
simpler cost and effectiveness categories are measured (for example only the first two levels of
Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model). Another problem is the implementation and acceptance of this
benchmark in practice. One danger is that educational institutes will only focus on this benchmark and
ignore other important matters. Difficulties can also arise when attempting to explain the meaning and
usefulness of this benchmark to people in the field.
Once the concepts of yield and cost-effectiveness had been made clear, the final component question in
chapter 4 was: How can the yield of teacher education be improved? Because it is difficult to calculate the
pure economic yield in terms of cost-benefit and ROI analysis for initial full-time teacher education, the
focus was on how to improve cost-effectiveness. Online teacher education lowers the opportunity costs
for student teachers, although the benefits could also result in a higher enrolment at initial teacher
education institutes, which in the end will increase cost-effectiveness. Online-based training and
education has higher fixed costs than classroom-based training, but these higher course development
costs are offset by lower variable costs in course delivery. Although online teacher education probably
increases cost-effectiveness in the long run, the ultimate quest is to find out the most cost-effective mix
of online and face-to-face education. Options that can improve the cost-effectiveness (i.e. costs and
quality) of initial teacher education on an institute level are: keeping better track of the financial situation
and costs; differentiation and specialisation in the teaching profession; and integrating different subjects
in courses for student teachers enrolled in various teaching programmes. The main advantage of online
teacher education on a national scale is that it facilitates close cooperation between initial (grade-2)
teacher education institutes (qualifying for secondary education), providing a basis for innovations that
will potentially improve cost-effectiveness.
Some constraints apply with respect to the findings in chapter 4. First of all, this chapter focused on how
to improve the cost-effectiveness per graduate of initial full-time teacher education by looking at the
fixed, variable and opportunity costs, while keeping an eye on effectiveness. However, it is possible to
influence other factors that will improve this benchmark (this was explained briefly within the context of
post-initial in-service teacher training), for example increasing enrolment, reducing the dropout rate and
shortening the time a student takes to graduate. In addition, cost-effectiveness can also be improved by
improving the effectiveness (quality) while maintaining the same budget.
With respect to the influence of online teacher education on cost-effectiveness, it was assumed that the
effectiveness of online teacher education is almost the same as that of courses delivered face-to-face.
Although research to date indicates that the effectiveness is the same when it is measured by academic
achievement (LeBaron and Tello, 1998 and Russell, 1998), it depends on the setting and the situation.
Besides, the face-to-face component will probably always be an important component of good quality
teacher education. The question is when to use online education and when to use face-to-face education.
A final constraint concerns the options for improving the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education
(qualifying for secondary education). Most of the recommendations are based on the opinions of experts.
Although these are specialists in the field of education, their opinions are not representative for each
situation and one cannot generalise the findings to a population or another context as in a quantitative
research.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
45
5.3 Future research
The findings in this study raise issues for future research. First of all, let us start with future research
originating from the answers to component question 1 in chapter 2. Subject to certain assumptions, the
(net) value of a teacher was assessed at EUR 450,000 per year. However, one significant assumption is that
a teacher makes the main contribution to one year of education. Future research should investigate how
much a teacher contributes to one year of education and whether we really can ascribe the full EUR
450,000 to this teacher. Perhaps we should also ascribe some value to parents who encourage their
children to complete a year of education? It would also be interesting to calculate this figure more
precisely using different scenarios, for example taking into account whether or not students receive a
diploma and work full time or part time during their lives. In addition, one could investigate the value of
other professions and compare this with the value of a teacher.
Future research is also necessary with regard to the effects of teacher training and teacher education,
especially on teacher quality, which remarkably has never been investigated as such. Moreover, the
sequence of relationships as discussed in chapter 2 has never been investigated in a single context and in
a single study. Nor has there been any research on the effect of initial full-time teacher education on
beginning teacher quality, pupil performance and the economic and social advantages for the individual
(micro level) and for a nation (macro level).
The findings discussed in chapter 3 also suggest avenues for future research. In particular, more research
is needed with respect to the cost and quality categories used for initial full-time teacher education
qualifying for secondary education. With regard to the cost categories (fixed, variable and opportunity), it
is important to investigate whether a single, simplified system of cost categories can be developed in
order to compare institutes on performance. It is particularly important to agree on how students’
opportunity, travel and time costs should be calculated. With respect to quality, it is important to
determine which levels or benchmarks for initial full-time teacher education can be monitored (both in
time and money) and to come up with a scale of measurement. Although difficult, it would be interesting
to explore whether the outcome, that is quality or effectiveness, can be converted into monetary terms in
order to perform a cost-benefit and Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. It is also necessary to investigate
which levels of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model can be implemented and will be accepted as a benchmark
in practice. As stated in chapter 3, a culture of measurement is common nowadays where pupils are
concerned, but measurements of teacher performance and teacher education are almost non-existent.
One example of a method for determining an institute’s added value when it comes to learning (related
to level 2) is to examine student teachers at the start of their educational track and at the end (with the
same kind of test), for example in a pre-test and post-test.
The degree of acceptance of the new benchmark for initial full-time teacher education (cost-effectiveness
per graduate) should also be assessed. The risk is that educational institutes will only focus on this
benchmark and ignore other relevant issues. One way of avoiding this problem is to make the benchmark
part of a broader balanced scorecard, as is often done in business (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). A balanced
scorecard is used to monitor multiple measures and find a balance between financial and (for example)
operational matters. Research is required into which benchmarks should be included in this balanced
scorecard. Acceptance will also be facilitated if educational institutes were to use this benchmark as a
peer-review tool in the first instance.
46
OUN
The findings in chapter 4 also raise questions for future research. First of all, it was suggested that
lowering the opportunity costs for student teachers could lead to higher enrolment at initial teacher
education institutes (qualifying for secondary education), which in the end would increase costeffectiveness. Future research should test empirically whether students in fact regard lower opportunity,
travel and time costs as a benefit and whether that will lead to higher enrolment. Even though online
teacher education will probably increases cost-effectiveness in the long run, future research is required to
find out the most cost-effective mix of online and face-to-face education. On a national scale, it was
argued that online teacher education facilitates cooperation between initial teacher education institutes,
leading them to develop innovative ideas. Research is necessary to develop these ideas and test whether
they improve cost-effectiveness (thereby lowering costs and improving quality). The previous section
stated that the cost-effectiveness per graduate could be improved by influencing other factors besides
costs. For example, it is important for future research to investigate how to increase enrolment further,
lower the dropout rate and shorten the amount of time each student takes to graduate. These factors are
the cause of many problems, not only with regard to yield but also with respect to the forecast future
shortage of teachers. One possible option is to include these factors in the balanced scorecard referred to
earlier.
5.4 Practical recommendations
The first practical recommendation that can be made to the Dutch government is to invest more in
teachers and teacher education. The value of a teacher for society is assessed at EUR 450,000 per year,
based on the extra income earned by a class of 25 students later in their lives. This is an impressive figure
and underlines the importance of investing in teachers and teacher education. However, because this
figure is based on a number of assumptions, it should be treated with some circumspection. Changing
these assumptions could change the outcome (see appendix A). In addition to the extra income earned
by students in their later lives, education also yields other benefits for individuals and society. Research
has also shown that of the factors open to being influenced by policy, ‘teacher quality’ is the single most
important school variable influencing student achievement (OECD, 2005).
However, it is not enough for government to invest in teachers and teacher education if the aim is to
improve the profession of teaching and teacher education. Teacher education institutes and other
stakeholders must be focused and more aware of how to spend and invest this money cleverly and costeffectively. Too often, discussions and policies only focus on how to improve the quality of teacher
education, without linking costs to quality. Teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary
education should not only look at the fixed and variable costs but also the students’ opportunity costs.
These institutes should agree on how to categorise costs and quality (effectiveness), which in the end
could give them a new benchmark: cost-effectiveness per graduate. It would be preferable to make this
benchmark part of a broader balanced scorecard and in the first instance use it as a peer-review tool. This
study has provided several suggestions for categorising costs and quality, ranging from simple methods
to more detailed and complex ones.
Several practical recommendations can be made for how to improve the cost-effectiveness of (initial)
teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education. It is important to bear in mind that a
significant investment in ICT is needed to offer an online course and that the advantages of these
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
47
investments are not always immediately visible, in part because of the long adoption time these new
technologies require. Initial (grade-two) teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education
in the Netherlands allocate only about 4% of their total expenditure to ICT. A larger investment would
seem to be required. Moreover, when students see more clearly the benefits of online teacher education
compared to face-to-face education (i.e. lower opportunity, travel and time costs), this could lead to
higher enrolment at initial teacher education institutes, which in the end would increase costeffectiveness. However, it is important to communicate the lower opportunity costs to students as
benefits, preferably supported by figures. One important practical recommendation for the institutes
themselves is to keep better track of their financial situation and costs. In 2005, only three of the seven
initial (grade-two) teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education in the Netherlands
recorded financial figures at faculty level. Without such records, it is not possible to compare costs and to
find out how to spend money more effectively. The ultimate challenge would be to arrive at a single
accounting system for all teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education, or to at least
agree on how to better track of costs. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education should formulate
more precisely what costs must be recorded and what targets (in terms of effectiveness) it has set for
teacher education institutes. One possibility is the balanced scorecard, whereby extra funds could be
awarded for specific achievements. Another recommendation for institutes is to introduce more
specialisation and differentiation in the profession of teaching. The advantage of differentiation and
specialisation is that wage differentiation becomes possible (more wage scales), leading to a more
flexible and potentially cost-effective way of covering teacher and employee expenses.
In the end, all these recommendations will only succeed if all the stakeholders of teacher education are
not only aware of the need to invest in teacher education, but more importantly are willing to cooperate
on developing cost-effective methods for doing so, with a focus on quality.
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OUN
Appendix A: Calculation of the value of a teacher
A teacher is worth a lot if you take into account that a year of education given by a teacher delivers a yield
of 25 (the number of students in a class) times 8% more income per year for students in their later lives.
This will be illustrated by the following calculation. One year of education yields an individual during his
life the following potential present value (PV) income stream:
Under the assumptions (Groot & Maassen van den Brink, 2003, p. 78):
*One year of secondary education.
*Average gross income full-time: 28,670 euro.
*T=40: Number of years of paid labour.
*b=0.06 or 0.08: yield one year of education.
*r=0.05: Discount rate
The number of years of paid labour is defined at 40 years (T=40). The real yield of one year of education is
6 to 8 percent. This conclusion is based on meta-analyses of international researches about the yield of
education and research in the Netherlands (Groot & Maassen van den Brink, 2003). The discount rate is
stated at 5 percent because this discount rate is used most of the time in researches. The discount rate is
used to calculate future cash flows back to t=0. This is necessary because future cash flows are less worth
today (mainly because of inflation).
Average present value (PV) for the yield of 0.06 and 0.08:
PV for 0.06: 17,849 euro net extra income
PV for 0.08: 23,798 euro net extra income
Average: (17,849 + 23,798)/2 = 20,824 ≈ 21,000 euro for a full timer. This means that the person works full
time during his life for a period of 40 years. During this period he earns 6 to 8 percent more income per
year, due to one year of extra education. These extra cash flows are now worth (that is calculated back to
t=0) 21,000 euro net extra income.
The value of one year of education for a class of students is 25 times 21.000 euro = 525,000 euro.
Then what are the costs of one year of education? The costs of education consist of the cost of a teacher
and the additional costs necessary to make this teaching possible (like the cost of a class room and other
education expenses). The cost of a teacher is its wage. The average wage of a teacher is (2198 + 3359)/2 =
2779 euro gross per month, which is the average of the minimum and the maximum wage (OC&W, 2005).
This is 2779 times 12 is 33,348 euro gross per year. Employer charges in the Netherlands are
approximately 60% of gross wage. This means total salary costs are 1.6 times 33,348 euro is 53,357 euro ≈
53,350 euro per teacher per year. To calculate the other costs of education the following calculation is
taken. The total costs of education for government in the year 2000 were: 20.6 billion euro of which 13.6
billion euro were teacher (salary) expenses. This means that 66% are teacher expenses (CBS, 2004) and
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
49
34% are other expenses. This is close to the European average. The OECD (2005) states, that 64% of
current expenditure on schools are allocated to teachers’ compensation.
When teachers’ salary is 53,350 euro per year (=66%), other educational costs are 27,500 euro per year
(=34%). If you deduct these costs from the value, this leaves:
Total value (extra income):
525,000 euro per year
Costs salary teacher:
53,350 euro per year
Other education costs:
27,500 euro per year −
Value teacher:
444,150 euro per year ≈ 450,000 euro
(secondary education)
Note 1: The costs for the teacher’s salary and other educational costs can be paid by the government or
part by individuals (students) in the form of tuition money.
Note 2: Without certificate or diploma:
The extra yield of 1 year of extra education lowers with 1/3 (Groot & Maassen van den Brink, 2003) for
dropouts. This means 4-5.3% extra yield for 1 year of extra education. This also lowers the value of a
teacher.
We need to be cautious with this outcome. First of all, some assumptions hold, which can lower the
outcome. One assumption for example is that all students work full time during their whole working life.
This is why it is better to speak of the potential total present value of one year of extra education. This
also means that one actually has to speak about the potential value of a teacher. Another assumption is
that the teacher is the main contributor of one year of education. In essence, this is the case because if
this teacher would not be there, education is not possible and the learning potential of students could
not be exploited optimally. In this way, the teacher is the main facilitator of one year of education and
one can argue that most of the extra value can be ascribed to him.
50
OUN
Appendix B: Expert consultations
Experts consulted
Expert 1:
Expert 1 is a professor and the dean of a faculty of behavioural sciences in the Netherlands. He is a
specialist in the field of innovation management in the education sector. He is also the former director of
an initial full-time teacher education institute (qualifying for secondary education).
Expert 2:
Expert 2 is the project manager for an initial full-time teacher education institute (providing grade-two
training for secondary education) and the secretary of the Committee of General Directors of Educational
Faculties in the Netherlands. He is involved in several projects concerning the yield of education.
Expert 3:
Expert 3 is an employee at a university of higher professional education (hogeschool) in the Netherlands.
He is a member of the Research and Development team and has conducted research on the yield of
education.
Expert 4:
Expert 4 is a teacher educator at a teacher education institute providing grade-two training for secondary
education and an educational researcher.
Expert 5:
Expert 5 is a professor and the academic director of the RdmC, a centre for the professional development
of teachers. He is a specialist in the field of distance learning in teacher education.
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
51
Expert interview questions
Quantity and quality of teacher education
Question 1) How is the yield of initial teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education
defined in terms of quantity and quality in the field?
Question 2) What relationship do you see between the yield of initial teacher education institutes
qualifying for secondary education in terms of quantity and quality?
Question 3) What are the best ways to measure the quality of recent teacher graduates? (for example by
means of exams and grades, or pupil achievement in the classroom of a beginning teacher, or the
school’s assessment of the teacher)
Question 4) What do you expect of the new quality indicators, i.e. 1) schools’ satisfaction and 2) students’
satisfaction? How can this add to quality improvement in teacher education?
Question 5) Can you suggest how the government’s financing and cost structure for initial teacher
education institutes qualifying for secondary education could be organised differently?
Cost-effectiveness and financial situation
Question 6) In what ways is it possible to improve the cost-effectiveness of initial teacher education
institutes (qualifying for secondary education)?
Question 7) How can teacher education institutes reduce their overheads?
Question 8) The report Convenant lerarenopleidingen VO/BE reveals that the accountability (in the annual
accounts) of initial (grade-two) teacher education institutes qualifying for secondary education is poor.
Do you have any idea why this is so?
Question 9) Teacher education institutes use many different accounting systems; are there any initiatives
to merge all these into a single system?
Question 10) Are there any figures that you can give me on the cost structure of teacher education
institutes qualifying for secondary education?
52
OUN
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Colofon
Uitgave
Open Universiteit Nederland
Ruud de Moor Centrum voor professionalisering van onderwijsgevenden
februari 2007
Bezoekadres
Valkenburgerweg 177
6419 AT Heerlen
telefoon 045- 576 22 22
Postadres
Postbus 2960
6401 DL Heerlen
Tekst
Arnoud Evers, Marc Vermeulen, Marcel van der Klink
Redactie
De working paper reeks staat onder eindredactie van prof. dr. P.J.J. Stijnen en drs. M.D. de Bie
Oplage
300 exemplaren
Omslag
Vivian Rompelberg
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
57
De Working Papers en andere delen uit de Ruud de Moor Centrum reeks kunnen worden besteld bij:
Open Universiteit Nederland
Ruud de Moor Centrum
Postbus 2960
6401 DL Heerlen
Tel. 045-576 21 02
Fax. 045-576 27 82
E-mail: [email protected]
Ook de volgende site kan geraadpleegd worden:
www.ou.nl/rdmc
58
OUN
Tot nu toe zijn de volgende delen in de Ruud de Moor Centrum reeks verschenen:
Publicaties:
1.
P.J.J. Stijnen, Leraar worden: ‘under construction’?, 2003, inaugurele rede
2.
M. Vermeulen, Een meer dan toevallige casus, 2003, inaugurele rede
3.
H.C.E. Broeksma, E-nabling E-learning, 2004, onderzoeksrapport
4.
H.W.A.M. Coonen, De leraar in de kennissamenleving, 2005, inaugurele rede
5.
G. Zwaneveld, Wiskunde en informatica: innovatie en consolidatie, 2005, inaugurele rede
6.
M.J.P. van Veen (red.), Door de bomen het bos: Informatievaardigheden in het onderwijs, 2005
7.
M. van der Klink, K. Schlusmans (red.), EVC voor Velen, 2006
8.
L. Luchtman, E-coachen voor lerarenopleiders, 2006
9.
M. van der Klink, A. Evers, J. Walhout, De kwaliteit van EVC in de lerarenopleidingen, 2006
Eerder verschenen Working Papers 2005:
1.
E. Klap-van Strien, Recente trends in opleiden en leren in arbeidsorganisaties met aandacht voor
zingeving en bezieling
2.
P. Poelmans, Community of practice ‘Nieuwe leraren’, Evaluatie met VO docenten
3.
H. Dekeyser, R. Schuwer, Ontwikkelen van kennisbanken en digitale leermaterialen, Enkele
handreikingen
4.
D. Jansen, R. Schuwer, H. Dekeyser, RdMC-applicatieprofiel, Een poldermodel voor omgaan met
metadata
5.
M. Goes, M. Dresen, M. van der Klink, Zonder leraren geen meesterlijke ontwikkeling, Het
uitwerken van kenmerkende beroepssituaties
6.
F. Kluijtmans, B. Becker, M. Crijns, I. Sewandono, Anders leren, anders organiseren!? Eindrapport
van het project Leraar anders: herontwerp van schoolorganisaties
7.
L. Kolos-Mazuryk, META: Enhancing Presence by means of the social affordances
8.
W. Xu, Preliminary requirements of social navigation in a virtual community of practice
Eerder verschenen Working Papers 2006:
9.
O. Firssova, J. Jeninga, D. Lockhorst, M. Stalmeier, Begeleiden van zij-instromers met een digitaal
portfolio
10. H. Staal, De Kennisbank Wiskunde en competentiegericht opleiden van leraren
Eerder verschenen Handleidingen 2006:
1.
I. Hanraets, H. Potters, D. Jansen, Communities in het Onderwijs, Adviezen en tips, een
handreiking voor moderatoren
The need to invest in teachers and teacher education
59
WORKING PAPER
Arnoud Evers, Marc Vermeulen and Marcel van der Klink
The need to invest in teachers
and teacher education
How to manage costs and achieve quality
in teacher education?
5507031
Ruud de Moor Centrum
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8.(1) 従業員数 Number of Employees (2) 総員数 Total Employees 12

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