Do good students become successful teachers?

Final grades play a decisive role in the selection of future teachers: School-leaving grades (Abitur) determine admission to university, and university degree grades, in turn, are considered in the assessment process for the practical part of teacher training at schools (induction phase). Even in the application process for permanent positions at schools, individual achievements are used as decision-making criteria. To this point, there has been very little research to investigate the prognostic value of success at school and teacher training on later professional success of teachers. Hence, it remains unclear whether final grades can be useful selection criteria. We address this research gap by investigating the prognostic value of final grades on young teachers' professional success. Our results are based on data from two longitudinal studies (N-1 = 668, N-2 = 262) on future teachers from the start of the induction phase until their entry into professional life. Professional success was measured by professional wellbeing (self-report) and instructional quality (student survey). Path models and structural equation models show that success at school can be a good predictor of success in teacher training, but cannot directly predict later professional success of young teachers.