Measuring global education goals: How TIMSS helps
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the percentage of students who are being taught by teachers who had received at least 35 hours of professional development during the two years before the assessment. On average, Grade 8 students (23%) are more than twice as likely as their Grade 4 peers (10%) to be taught by a teacher who received at least this amount of professional development. In Croatia, teachers reported a low level of in-service training, while levels were also very low in countries which enjoy a high reputation for their education systems, such as Japan (1%inGrade4and6%inGrade8) andFinland (2% and 6%, respectively). Institutionalized training appears common in Kazakhstan (30% and 61% in Grades 4 and 8, respectively) and the Russian Federation (32% and 71%).
Some notable differences exist between qualification levels in some countries. For instance, Italy has the highest percentage of Grade 4 students whose mathematics teachers only have a secondary education qualification (59%) but also the highest percentage of Grade 8 students whose teachers had a postgraduate education qualification (100%) 14 . Other large gaps between the two levels, such as in terms of the percentageof students taught by amathematics teacher who had at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, are observed in the Russian Federation (75% and 99%) and South Africa (62% and 79%).
Teachers are also asked whether they have received in-service training. Figures are expressed in terms of
FIGURE 4.C.2: Grade 4 and 8 students whose mathematics teacher had spent more than 35 hours on professional development during the past two years
70
60
Grade 4 Grade 8
50
40
30
20
10
0
TIMSS 2019 participating entities reflected in the figure above have been selected by and named according to UNESCO.
Note: *Norway, South Africa and Turkey administered the assessment to fifth-grade students instead of fourth-grade students, while Norway and South Africa administered the assessment to ninth-grade students instead of eighth-grade students.
of Grade 8 students. In three countries, Israel, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, more than half of Grade 8 students were taught by science teachers who spent 35 hours or more on professional development during the past two years. By contrast, this was the case only for 4% of students in Japan and Norway.
The same striking differences between some countries also appear in terms of the percentage of students taught by science teachers who had spent 35 hours or more on professional development during the past two years. On average across all participating countries in TIMSS 2019, this was the case for 10% of Grade 4 students and 25%
14 Requirements for primary teachers in Italy changed in 2013, before which a university degree was not required. This information can be found in the TIMSS 2019 Encyclopedia and is also in the TIMSS 2015 Encyclopedia exhibit about teacher preparation routes: http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/ timss2015/encyclopedia/curriculum-questionnaire-exhibits/main-preparation-routes-and-current-requirements-for-teachers/
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