THE IMPACT OF A TEACHING METHODOLOGY ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

It is crucial for the modern education system to study the factors, which affect students' academic achievement. These factors include the influence of a teacher's classroom efficiency on students' success. Thus, it is important to empirically study the impact of the teacher's role on student academic achievement and to identify the characteristics, which determine students' success. This research studies the subject matter on the example of Georgian public schools; particularly, analyzing the relation between the specific teaching and assessment practices used by teachers and the academic success of the students. 5742 ninth grade (age 15-16) students (2833 females and 2909 males) from 234 public schools participated in the study. These students' teachers' also participated in the study. The study was based on the student's evaluation of teacher's teaching methods used in class and the teacher's self-evaluation. A special questionnaires which were administered, were created based on the scientific literature and research in this field. On the basis of factor and regression analysis, it was shown that a number of factors have high predictive value on students' academic achievement; these include a formative assessment used by a teacher, frequent feedback during teaching, assessment transparency, the use of interdisciplinary examples during the practice of a lesson, development of transfer and piercing skills, connectivity between theoretical and practical knowledge, spiral method of lesson planning and the effective distribution of lessons time on different activities, as well as the teachers' confidence in student's skills, psychological support and teachers' belief in student's success. Based on the results, a portrait of a professional teacher was established. The study is useful for teachers - for amelioration of teaching methodology; similarly, it has use in the professional teacher development programs.