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Merit pay and national licensing standards for public school teachers would curb the influence of “entrenched and powerful interest groups” and promote better teaching, says a new study on how to make Canadian teachers more effective.

Written by Rodney Clifton, a University of Manitoba professor emeritus in education, the research review says there “is little evidence that monopolistic schools do a good job of educating students,” and more incentives and accountability are needed in how teachers are certified, hired and financially rewarded if student academic performance is to improve.

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The study, called “Obtaining Better Teachers for Canadian Public Schools,” is being released Monday morning by the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute, a conservative think-tank.

Current processes “don’t do a very good job” of choosing who gets admitted into teacher training programs at education faculties and “no one takes an independent look” at how competent a teacher is before they are certified, said Prof. Clifton in an interview. The study cites research that says some U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions such as Ontario have used screening exams or interviews before student teachers are accepted into faculties of education, but no Canadian province or territory requires teachers to pass certification exams before being licensed, even though such exams could keep weak candidates from entering the profession.