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.

Eighth-graders who had teachers that reported having an undergraduate major (289) or minor (285) in mathematics scored higher than students whose teachers did not have a major or minor in mathematics (279).

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	287	287	280
Mathematics	289	285	279
Other mathematics-related subject such as statistics	283	284	283
Education (including secondary education)	285	288	280

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	287	285	282
Mathematics	286	285	283
Other mathematics-related subject such as statistics	285	284	283
Education (including secondary education)	285	284	282

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.