Week 14: "The lasting impact of good teachers" - CNN

1. A good teacher in a student's life substantially impacts the student's later life by way increasing the chance that the student attends college, earns more money, and avoids teenage pregnancy.
2. A study conducted by Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff evaluated teachers by using the 'value added' method - the average improvement that a student of a specific teacher has throughout the course of a year. 
3. The difference between a low VA teacher and a high VA teacher's presence in a student's life can amount to a sizable sum - up to $2.5 million dollars lost/gained.
4. Teachers are the second most influential people in a child's life, next to a child's parents.

As a student who has had her share of good and bad teachers, it is interesting to learn about the impact that a teacher can have on a student - not just during the school year, but decades after graduation. This only adds importance to educational professions, which are usually underrated. The relevance of teachers in society and the influence that they have on the success of a country and the future of the world is higher than most think.

Source: Bennett, William J. "The lasting impact of good teachers."CNNOpinion. 11 Jan 2012: n. page. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/opinion/bennett-good-teachers/index.html?hpt=op_bn4>.