Identifying Teacher Expertise: An Examination of Researchers' Decision Making

This article reviews indicators used by researchers to select samples of expert teachers. Reflecting initially on the broader expertise literature and then focusing on studies of teaching expertise, the authors identify criteria used to select expert teachers that fall under one or more of the following marker categories: (a) years of experience, (b) social recognition, (c) professional or social group membership, and (d) performance based criteria (including normative and criterion-based selection). Results indicate considerable variability in the selection criteria for identifying expert teachers, even among researchers using the same theoretical construct. Based on this review, a rubric for selecting samples of expert teachers is proposed.