- Summary
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- Indicators Part I: Population and School Enrollment
- Indicators Part II: Academic Performance
- Indicators Part III: Contexts for Learning
- Indicator 15: Gender Differences in Students' Attitudes Toward Reading
- Indicator 16: Gender Differences in Students' Attitudes Toward Mathematics
- Indicator 17: Gender Differences in Students' Attitudes Toward Science
- Indicator 18: Fourth-Grade Teachers' Strategies for Assisting Students Having Difficulty Reading
- Indicator 19: Teacher Collaboration in Mathematics Instruction
- Indicator 20: Teacher Professional Development in Mathematics
- Indicator 21: Teacher Professional Development in Science
- Indicator 22: Fourth-Grade Reading Teachers' Career Satisfaction
- Indicators Part IV: Expenditure for Education
- Indicators Part V: Education Returns: Educational Attainment and Income
- List of Tables
- List of Exhibit and Figures
- References
- Appendix A: The Education Systems of the G-20 Countries
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Indicator 21: Teacher Professional Development in Science
G-20 Countries Included: Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Kingdom (England and Northern Ireland), United States
The United States and the Russian Federation were the only participating G-20 countries where at least half of the eighth-grade students had teachers who reported participating in professional development in science in each of four areas: content, pedagogy, assessment, and integrating information technology into instruction.
TIMSS 2011 asked teachers of fourth- and eighth-graders to report on their participation in several areas of professional development in science in the 2 years before the assessment. This indicator discusses the results for teachers of fourth- and eighth-graders in four areas of professional development in science: content, pedagogy, assessment, and integrating information technology (IT) into instruction.
In 2011, with few exceptions, less than half of the fourth-grade students in the participating G-20 countries had teachers who reported that they participated in professional development in any of the four areas in the 2 years prior to the assessment. The percentage of fourth-graders whose teachers reported participating in professional development in science content ranged from 9 percent in Turkey to 49 percent in the Republic of Korea (figure 21-1). In the United States, a higher percentage of fourth-graders' teachers reported participating in professional development in science content (39 percent) than in any other area. The percentage of fourth-grade students whose teachers reported participating in professional development in science pedagogy ranged from 9 percent in Turkey to 54 percent in Saudi Arabia. Twenty-eight percent of fourth-graders in the United States had teachers who reported participating in this area of professional development, which was higher than in Turkey, not significantly different than in Australia (32 percent), Germany (28 percent), Italy (21 percent), and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) (28 percent), and lower than in the remaining G-20 countries.
Twenty-seven percent of fourth-graders in the United States had teachers who reported participating in professional development in science in assessment and in integrating IT into instruction. As in the United States, in seven other countries (Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom [Northern Ireland]), these were the two areas in which fourth-graders' teachers were the least likely to receive professional development. The most notable exception was the Russian Federation, where 54 and 56 percent of students' teachers reported receiving professional development in assess-ment and integrating IT into instruction, compared to 46 and 49 percent in content and pedagogy, respectively. In Turkey, the percentages of students whose teachers reported participating in professional development in any area were uniformly low (ranging from 8 to 9 percent), and, compared to the other countries, in Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom (England and Northern Ireland), teacher participation varied to a greater degree among the different areas.
At the eighth-grade level, higher percentages of students in most countries had teachers who reported participating in professional development in science in each of the areas than they did at fourth grade. The exception was Saudi Arabia, in assessment.
The percentage of eighth-grade students whose teachers reported participating in professional development in science content ranged from 22 percent in Italy to 78 percent in Japan. The Russian Federation and the United Kingdom (England) had the highest percentages of eighth-grade students whose teachers reported participating in professional development in pedagogy (75 percent), along with Japan (73 percent), the Republic of Korea (68 percent), the United States (67 percent), and Saudi Arabia (65 percent). Italy had the lowest percentage of eighth-grade students whose teachers reporting participating in professional development in this area, with 35 percent. The percentage of eighth-grade students whose teachers reported participating in professional development in assessment ranged from 16 percent in Italy to 73 percent in Indonesia, with 57 percent in the United States. In the area of integrating IT into instruction, the percent-ages ranged from 28 percent in Italy to 75 percent in the Russian Federation, with 70 percent in the United States.
The United States and the Russian Federation were the only G-20 countries where at least half of the eighth-grade students had teachers who reported participating in professional development in science in each of the four areas. In Indonesia and the United Kingdom (England), at least half of the eighth-grade students had teachers who reported participating in professional development in three of the areas. In these two countries, integrating IT into instruction was the area in which relatively fewer students' teachers participated in professional development.
Definitions and Methodologie
Data for this indicator are from the TIMSS 2011 teacher question-naire, which was designed to obtain information about the classroom contexts for the teaching and learning of mathematics and science and about the implemented curriculum in these subjects. For each participating school, one teacher questionnaire that addressed both mathematics and science was administered to the classroom teacher of the sampled fourth-grade class, and separate versions of the questionnaire were administered to the mathematics teacher and the science teacher of the sampled eighth-grade class. It should be noted that the TIMSS 2011 teachers do not constitute representative samples of teachers. Rather, they are the teachers for nationally representative samples of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students. Thus, the teacher data presented in this indicator were analyzed at the student level.
In TIMSS 2011 at the fourth grade, countries were required to sample students in the grade that corresponded to the end of 4 years of formal schooling, providing that the mean age at the time of testing was at least 9.5 years. In TIMSS 2011 at the eighth grade, countries were required to sample students in the grade that corresponded to the end of 8 years of formal schooling, providing that the mean age at the time of testing was at least 13.5 years. As defined by TIMSS, the first year of formal schooling begins with the first year of primary school (ISCED97 level 1), which should mark the beginning of formal instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics. (Note that kindergarten is not counted.) For most countries, the target grades were fourth and eighth grades or their national equivalents.