【正文】 han those teachers considered ineffective.4 Discussion Using Statistical Models to Assess Teacher EffectivenessThe current environment for education is permeated with new calls for accountabil ity at the student, teacher, and school levels. The NCLB Act calls for more attention to student gains and effectiveness of teachers. In the current study, we focused on the identification of teacher outes that can be closely linked to accountability. Fairness and usability are central issues in any system of accountability that would be proposed for use in educational settings . The improvement orientation of evaluating teacher effectiveness serves to meet the professional needs of the teacher and to support reform efforts within a school . Logic dictates that if teaching improves then student achievement will improve as well. Characteristics and Behaviors of Effective TeachersOne important finding of this exploratory crosscase analysis is the preliminary identification of instructional characteristics and behaviors of those teachers who produced high gains in student learning. In the study, assessments were used that were closely aligned with the curriculum taught by the teachers, which allowed for a meaningful interpretation of student learning gains, both greater and lower than expected. Studies such as this may help us begin to better understand the links between classroom processes and desirable student outes. Moreover, by focusing on the hallmarks of effective teachers, eventually we may be better equipped to educate teachers more expertly, to set meaningful performance expectations once teachers are in classrooms, and to evaluate and reward teachers more fairly. LimitationsDue to the very limited sample size of the crosscase analysis (N=11), large number of variables, and the large number of statistical tests, the analyses are presented as exploratory analyses focused on the trends of the findings rather than as statistical analyses. Thus, due caution should be exercised in interpreting or generalizing the results of the study. Given the promise in these findings, and considering the limitations of the current study, we remend that future work continue this line of research. In particular, studies that could provide for a larger and more representative sample would allow for more robust statistical analyses to be conducted.5 ConclusionsAlthough policy makers periodically have suggested that schools have little impact on student learning, recent studies indicate that schools and their efforts do make a difference, and much of that difference can be linked directly to teachers. Given the clear and undeniable link that exists between teacher effectiveness and student learning, the use of student achievement information, when it is curriculum based, can provide an invaluable tool to explore the classroom practices of teachers who enhance student learning beyond predicted levels of acplishment. Student achievement can be, indeed, should be, an important source of feedback on the effectiveness of schools, administrators, and teachers. The challenge for educators and policy makers is to make certain that student achievement is placed in the broader context of what teachers and schools are acplishing. Moreover, given the central role that teachers have always played in successful schools, connecting teacher performance and student performance is a natural extension of the educational reform agenda. ReferencesBerliner, D. C. (1986). In pursuit of the expert pedagogue. Educational Researcher, 15(7), 5–13.Bloom, B. S. (1984). The search for methods of group instruction as effective as onetoone tutoring. Educational Leadership, 41(8), 4–17. Corbett, D., amp。 Wilson, B. (2004). What urban students say about good teaching. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 18–22. Cruickshank, D. R., amp。 Haefele, D. (2001). Good teachers, plural. Educational Leadership, 58(5), 26–30.