Classroom Context: Teacher Major/Minor

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

More than 70 percent of fourth-graders had teachers who reported having an undergraduate major or minor in education.

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
	Percentage of students
Reading, language arts, or literacy education	5	16	79
English	5	10	85
Other language arts-related subject	4	7	90
Education (including elementary or early childhood)	62	10	27

Approximately 49 percent of fourth-graders had teachers who reported having a graduate major or minor in education.

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
	Percentage of students
Reading, language arts, or literacy education	11	11	78
English	1	3	95
Other language arts-related subject	2	4	94
Education (including elementary or early childhood)	42	7	51

NOTE: Detail may not sum to total because of rounding. See complete data for teacher undergraduate major or minor in reading education, English, other language arts-related subject, or education. See complete data for teacher graduate major or minor in reading education, English, other language arts-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 Reading Assessment.

Browse questionnaires for the NAEP assessments.