Exploring the Mathematical Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data

reviewed by Susan Swars Auslander - June 19, 2019

Exploring the Mathematical Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data describes several exploratory analyses of data from the Teacher Education and Development Study of Mathematics (TEDS-M), the most significant international study of mathematics teacher preparation to date. Overall, TEDS-M aimed to identify how mathematics teachers are prepared internationally and to study variation in the nature and impact of teacher preparation programs on teacher candidates mathematical knowledge and beliefs within and across the participating countries. Data were collected from nationally representative samples of mathematics teacher preparation programs in 17 countries, focusing on both primary and secondary level programs and their teacher candidates and educators. Specifically, a total of 751 programs provided data, with participants including approximately 22,000 teacher candidates and their almost 5,000 educators. The magnitude and constitution of this data set provide an exceptional and much-needed resource for mathematics education researchers and policymakers.

This book focuses on original analyses of new facets of the TEDS-M data and methodology. Some of the goals of the secondary analyses of the TEDS-M data are to: strengthen the knowledge base related to increasing the number of well-prepared mathematics teachers, provide insight into the content and contributions of varying teacher preparation programs to inform policy and practice, and offer a model of a scientific approach to studying mathematics teacher preparation and teacher learning. This book also provides an overview of key concepts and findings of the initial TEDS-M study. The TEDS-M study involved survey methodology; data were collected in 2008 and made publicly available in 2012. Described are the various assessments and their development and validation, along with sampling procedures, illuminating the robustness of the study and database.

This book is divided into three main sections. The first section includes five chapters that explore the characteristics of participating teacher preparation programs, focusing on the curriculum, the strategies and guidelines used to prepare highly knowledgeable teacher candidates, and the preparation of teacher candidates for diverse learners. Also presented is an analysis of teacher educators mathematical beliefs and their alignment with the beliefs of their teacher candidates. The second part includes nine chapters focusing on the participating teacher candidates mathematical knowledge and beliefs, along with other characteristics, illuminating variability across programs and countries. The final section includes five chapters that address some important methodological issues that emerged in TEDS-M, specifically related to sampling, instrument development, and validation.

The international scope of the TEDS-M study and of the results presented in this book are significant, as teacher effectiveness has ascended to the top of education policy agendas for many countries (Darling-Hammond, 2017). The escalating emphasis on teacher effectiveness is grounded in the recognition that improving teachers knowledge, dispositions, and instructional practices is key to enhancing K-12 student learning in the classroom. Accordingly, teacher preparation programs are facing increasing scrutiny to produce quality teacher candidates, resulting in more policies and practices directed at the standardization of teacher education, particularly in the areas of recruitment and preparation. Teacher preparation programs and these initiatives, particularly in countries with well-developed systems of teacher education, can serve as examples of possibilities for improving teacher effectiveness and warrant careful examination. An emerging strategy across a number of countries has been the creation of standards for teacher preparation to guide what new teachers should learn and be able to do. For example, in the United States, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) recently published the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics (2017), which describes a national vision of initial preparation for all PreK-12 teachers who teach mathematics. AMTEs standards are intended to have far-reaching implications for preparation programs of mathematics teachers, including changes related to program courses and structures, partnerships involving schools and universities and their leaders, the ongoing accreditation of programs regionally and nationally, and the shaping of state and national mathematics teacher preparation policy. The findings in this book hold significant relevance and should inform mathematics teacher preparation reform initiatives, such as the recommended standards of AMTE.  

The secondary analyses exploring new aspects of the TEDS-M data described in this book provide compelling and much needed findings related to mathematics teacher preparation internationally. Rather than mathematics teacher preparation programs operating from traditions and assumptions that may or may not be research-based, the contents of this book provide a means for improving policy and practice through the use of empirical data. Further, interpretations can be drawn with confidence in light of the quality design and data of TEDS-M, not to mention the methodology serving as a robust model for scientific research. However, more description with specificity on how the findings could inform policy and practice would be of benefit. All in all, this book is a significant contribution to the field of mathematics teacher education and offers a valuable resource for stakeholders in the mathematics education community.

References

Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. (2017). Standards for preparing teachers of mathematics. Retrieved from amte.net/standards.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher education around the world: What can we learn from international practice? European Journal of Teacher Education, 40, 291309.

 

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: June 19, 2019 https://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 22941, Date Accessed: 11/27/2021 8:56:37 PM Purchase Reprint Rights for this article or review