Theoretical Framework, Study Design and Main Results of TEDS-M

Abstract

The comparative “Teacher Education and Development Study: Learning to Teach Mathematics (TEDS-M)”, carried out under the supervision of the Interna- tional Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), provided the opportunity to examine the outcomes of teacher education in terms of teacher knowledge and teacher beliefs both across countries and specifically with respect to mathematics for the first time. This chapter describes the conceptual framework that guided TEDS-M and its study design. The instruments used to measure teacher knowledge and beliefs as well as opportunities to learn (OTL) are described. In ad- dition, core descriptive results, previously only published in German (see Blömeke et al. “Cross-national comparison of the professional competency of and learning opportunities for future primary school teachers”, 2010a;“Cross-national compar- ison of the professional competency of and learning opportunities for future sec- ondary school teachers of mathematics”, 2010b (in German)), are described. These results serve as the basis for the other chapters in this monograph. It turns out that teacher education institutions structure their provision of OTL in a way that is con- sistent with their particular philosophy of what teachers need to know and be able to do. The need to strengthen teachers’ content knowledge is one of the dominant ideas that has guided reform efforts in many countries over the past 20 years. The results of TEDS-M which are reported in this chapter are therefore crucial for policymak- ers. In addition, international comparisons provide benchmarks for national teacher education systems. Countries that do better in TEDS-M may have more effective teacher training programs than countries at the bottom end of the ranking. Keywords