TALIS 2013 focuses on six themes motivated primarily by the collective policy interests of participating education systems and secondarily by current theory and research, described below.
Continuous Professional Development. This includes a profile of in–service professional development (types of activities, participation rates, intensity of participation, mentoring and induction programs), needs and demands for in–service professional development, barrier preventing participation in in–service professional development, perceived impact of in–service professional development, and initial teacher education.
Teacher Appraisal. This includes a profile of teacher appraisal (frequency, criteria, outcomes) and perceptions of the effectiveness and impact of teacher appraisal.
School Leadership and Management. This includes a profile of school leadership and management styles (including indicators on the roles and functions of school leaders) and distributed/team leadership.
School Climate. This includes disciplinary climate, teacher-student relations, a profile of teachers’ working time, teacher and principal job satisfaction, and parent-teacher and parent-school relations.
Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs. This includes a profile of teaching practices, a profile of cooperation among teaching staff, teaching special education needs students, pedagogical use of technology, and a profile of student assessment practices.
Teachers’ Pedagogical and Professional Practices. This includes a profile of teaching practices, a profile of cooperation among teaching staff, teaching special education needs students, pedagogical use of technology, and a profile of student assessment practices.