Studying teachers' contribution to academic achievement of third-year high school students based on national exam data

The important status of education in human life is undeniable. In this regard, academic life is one of the most important aspects of people’s life that has a great impact on other aspects of life. As a result, the academic achievement of students has always been the main concern of families and  ,at the same time, the education system. Therefore, identifying the factors that may reduce the students’ academic failure and improve and  increase their academic achievement is always of  importance and emphasis. Based on the aforementioned issues, the main purpose of this research is studying personal and individual factors, features of learning and knowledge, skill features and personality traits related to teachers ' qualifications  in the academic achievement of the third grade high school students (based on data collected from the national entrance exams in order to determine the teachers' share from the perspective of students, teachers, and principals.  Moreover, based on the findings of this study, we are aimed at  providing   guidelines for teacher training at Farhangian University as well as empowering  the teachers at the high schools.

The research method was descriptive and causal-comparative. The statistical population of this study included the provinces with the highest and lowest academic achievement. In this study, sampling of students, teachers and school principals was based on the method of multistage cluster sampling. Descriptive statistics, t-test and analysis of variance were used for data analysis. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire to determine the teachers' contribution to students' academic achievement.

The results showed that for the provinces with high academic achievement, the mean scores obtained for individual and occupational characteristics, the knowledge aspect, the skill aspect, and the personality aspect were  57.34 , 27.72  , 43.10 and  40.79, respectively. The mean scores obtained for the provinces with low academic achievement were  32.33 , 14.97, 23.57, and 20.86 for the aspects of personal and occupational characteristics, the knowledge aspect, the skill aspect, and the personality aspect, respectively. The results of the multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between the provinces with high and low academic achievement in terms of the personal characteristics, the knowledge  aspect, the skill  aspect and the personality characteristics of the teachers. Due to the adjusted averages, the teachers in the provinces with high academic achievement scored higher in these aspects. Therefore, there was a significant difference between the provinces with high and low academic achievement in terms of personal characteristics, the knowledge aspect, the skill aspect and the personality characteristics of teachers (p = 0.001).

Individual characteristics and the aspects of knowledge, skill and personality of teachers has a sensible effect on improving the academic achievement of the third-year high school students. Applications of the findings of the present study are as follows: Determining the qualifications required for the teachers can be the guideline for  identifying the direction and the strategy of the teacher training and the in-service teacher training programs. According to the research findings, it is recommended to the policy makers of education and teacher training that  in reviewing the new program of the teacher training and the in-service training of teachers, special attention should be paid to the impact of personal, scientific, skill and personality qualifications of teachers and  increasing their share in the  programs for teachers’ professional improvement and development and strengthening the aspect of supervision. The limitations with which conducting this study was faced may have had an  influence on the generalizability of  its findings since it  was not possible for the researchers to control disturbing variables such as intelligence and gender; These variables are likely to have some effect on the results. Also, due to time and place limitations and obtaining the necessary permits, this study  was conducted only among the third-year high school students in provinces with high academic achievement, such as South Khorasan, Mazandaran, Yazd, Tehran, and Isfahan and some provinces which have the lowest academic achievement, including the provinces of Bushehr, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan and Sistan and Baluchestan. is Obviously, increasing the sample population will certainly lead to more accurate results.