Relationship Between Teachers’ Quality And Students’ Academic Performance
[A CASE STUDY OGBOMOSO SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA SECONDARY SCHOOLS, OYO STATE]

Teachers’ Professional Qualification and Students’ Academic Performance
It has been established that experienced teachers differ from novice teachers in their knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Thus, it may be inferred that they also differ from novice teachers in their professional development needs. Nonetheless, most of the research on teacher learning focuses on teacher training at the pre-service level (Waters, 2006). However, teachers continue to evolve as they remain in the teaching profession (Tsui, 2005), and Zeichner&Noffke, (2001) have emphasized the importance of lifelong professional learning for teachers in all fields. Providing meaningful professional development for experienced teachers may be considered central to this goal.
Tsui (2003) asked how experienced teachers maintain enthusiasm for their work and why some become expert teachers while others remain experienced non-experts. Huberman (1998) identified three actions taken by teachers in non-novice stages of professional development that are likely to lead to the development of expertise and long-term career satisfaction.
•    They shift roles. Experienced teachers might teach a new subject or a new learner level. Alternatively, they might mentor or coach new teachers or take on other responsibilities. Fessler and Christensen (1991) found that involvement in professional development and assuming new roles could result in more enthusiasm and commitment among teachers.
•    They engage in classroom-level experimentation. Experienced teachers might change classroom routines or engage in action research (Chisman& Crandall, 2007).
•    They participate in activities that challenge their knowledge and stretch their skills. Experienced teachers with high professional qualifications learn more about a topic in their field, replace their customary materials or activities, or otherwise push themselves to the “edge of their competence,” where improvement occurs.
Richards and Farrell (2005) suggested that reflective and collaborative professional development activities can be particularly beneficial for experienced teachers, as can activities that place them in a mentoring or coaching role. Likewise, Wallace (1991) argued that effective professional development for language teachers includes mentoring and coaching, reflection, and opportunities to apply theory and research to practice in order to improve students’ academic achievement in school.
Teachers attendance of in – service training are one of the indicators of experience and professional qualification. Teachers’ motives to attend in-service training can be manifold e.g. increase in salary, career planning, keeping up with developments, filling in lacunae, removing insecurity and meeting colleagues. In the Science Education Project in South Africa (SEP), the objectives were mainly formulated by the developers after having consulted various experts who had experience with Education in Africa.
The teachers in this program had been and did not have any experience with practical work. Only in a later stage of their in-service training course they had a better idea of the possible content and methods, did formulating objectives of their own lessons become part of the program (Fullan, 1992). The basic skills and abilities of the teaching process are developed in a teacher through professional qualification. Likewise, professional qualification can be termed as the preparation for life long journey into the teaching profession.