The intended, implemented, and achieved curriculum of mathematics teacher education in the United States

Abstract

The first part of this chapter describes the development of a systematic model for the comparative study of the curriculum of teacher education programs used in the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M). We use the United States as a case study to describe in depth the intended, implemented, and achieved curriculum of teacher education. We present in detail the results of the curriculum analysis for programs preparing future primary and secondary teachers (or the intended curriculum). We contrast these results with the number of clock hours dedicated to different areas of teacher education, and with future teachers' perception of their opportunities to learn (as indicators of the implemented curriculum), and with future teachers' knowledge at graduation (as indicators of the achieved curriculum). We discuss the implications of our findings for the study of the teacher education curriculum in an era of increased accountability.