Classroom Context: Teacher Major/Minor

As part of the 2009 mathematics assessment, teachers of fourth- and eighth-graders were asked about their undergraduate and graduate education in mathematics as well as in other subject areas. The tables below, which focus only on mathematics and general education degrees earned, provide the percentages and scale scores of students whose teachers responded within each category shown.

Fourth-graders whose teachers reported having an undergraduate major in education (241) scored higher than those with teachers who reported having a minor (237) or not having a degree in education (238).

Did you have a major, minor, or special emphasis in any of the following subjects as part of your undergraduate coursework?

Subject	Major	Minor/special emphasis	Neither
	Average score
Mathematics education	241	240	240
Mathematics	240	240	240
Other mathematics-related subject such as statistics	238	239	240
Education (including elementary or early childhood)	241	237	238

Did you have a major, minor, or special emphasis in any of the following subjects as part of your graduate coursework?

Subject	Major	Minor/special emphasis	Neither
	Average score
Mathematics education	244	240	240
Mathematics	235	240	240
Other mathematics-related subject such as statistics	236	239	240
Education (including elementary or early childhood)	241	238	239

NOTE: The NAEP Mathematics scale ranges from 0 to 500. Some apparent differences between estimates may not be statistically significant. See complete data for teacher undergraduate major or minor in mathematics education, mathematics, other mathematics-related subject, or education. See complete data for teacher graduate major or minor in mathematics education, mathematics, other mathematics-related subject, or education.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Mathematics Assessment.

Browse questionnaires for the NAEP assessments.