IEA’s Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M)

Abstract

TEDS-M (Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics) was carried out in 17 countries by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It was the first international large-scale assessment where primary and lower-secondary mathematics teachers at the end of their teacher education (future teachers) were tested on what they knew and believed. The data revealed that most countries offered two pathways to a teaching license: a 4-year specialized teacher education program concluding with a bachelor degree and a longer pathway starting with a subject-specific bachelor program followed by a specialized teacher education program. Taiwan achieved the best TEDS-M results for mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) of future primary (together with Singapore) and lower-secondary teachers. In contrast, MCK and MPCK of future teachers from Botswana, Chile, Georgia, and the Philippines were lowest. In high-achieving TEDS-M countries, the level of mathematics classes offered and the emphasis of teaching practice were higher than elsewhere. A typical future primary and lower-secondary teacher was female and 24 years old at the end of teacher education. There were 26–100 books in her parents’ home, and she had good grades in high school. Intrinsic-pedagogical motives had been decisive for becoming a teacher. Teacher education outcomes were not an exclusive result of countries’ sociocultural characteristics, individual teacher characteristics, or the structure of a teacher education program but a complex amalgam of these characteristics. TEDS-M triggered many follow-up studies that took place in new countries (e.g., Peru), new domains (e.g., future language teachers), or new career stages (e.g., in-service teachers).KeywordsInternational large-scale assessmentTeacher knowledgeMathematics teacherTeacher beliefsOpportunities to learn