Accuracy of Teachers' Self-reports on their Postsecondary Education: Teacher Transcript Study, Schools and Staffing Survey. Working Paper Series

摘要

This study is a methodological study designed to determine the best method for obtaining information on teachers' backgrounds. Specifically, two alternative research methodologies will be compared: the collection of teachers' self-reports of their academic qualifications, as provided on survey questionnaires, and the use of teachers' college transcripts. Transcripts are assumed to ultimately provide the most accurate and complete descriptions of teachers' backgrounds, since they are not subject to potential reporting bias of teachers who may wish to inflate their qualifications, and they provide a degree of detail that might not be possible when dependent on teachers' recall: however, the collection and analysis of transcripts is administratively more complex than the administration of a survey questionnaire.