ABSTRACT
The policy cycle of poor student achievement leading to teacher blaming and shaming, which then leads to teacher-focused policies and standardsimplementation, is a frequent phenomenon in systems that regularly participate in international educational assessments. In Indian national education policy since the early 2000s, there has been a decided focus on building traditional teacher quality, through increased qualifications and the certification of teachers, but no empirical studies have investigated the differences in teacher quality in India. Teacher quality is traditionally measured using simple descriptions of teachers’ qualifications, certification, educational credentials, and most frequently by their students’ average achievement scores. Several international studies have found an association between student achievement and teacher qualification, if the qualification is content related, but research in India varies from the international results. Studies in India, however, have found that students’ background and school type may mediate the effects of teacher qualification.
