Math and Science Teacher Certification
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
Teacher quality is an important aspect of any education system and although debate exists as to what exactly constitutes a teacher quality indicator, most observers agree that teacher certification is one element that relates to the quality or effectiveness of the teacher. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is administered to 4th and 8th grade students across various APEC economies to test student curriculum-based knowledge. The TIMSS also administers a teacher questionnaire to the teachers of the students surveyed. This questionnaire includes many items related to teacher quality, such as teacher certification. Although not all APEC economies participate in the TIMSS, the data that is available allows for a comparison of various factors across participating APEC economies. The rest of this page contains information on teacher certification of those teachers surveyed during the 2007 TIMSS in the selected participating APEC economies.
For other information on teacher quality, please visit the Teacher Quality Portal page.
Summary
These charts demonstrate the percentage of 4th and 8th grade Mathematics teachers that have a teaching certificate in the selected APEC economies. Not all of the economies are included in both charts because of data availability. The overwhelming majority of 4th and 8th grade Math teachers surveyed in the selected economies had a teaching certificate. The lowest percentage of teachers with a teaching certificate is found among 8th grade teachers in Indonesia at 91% and the highest is found among 8th grade teachers in the Russian Federation at 100%. Of the APEC economies that appear on both graphs, the percentage of teachers with a teaching certificate increase between 4th and 8th grade teachers for all of the economies except the United States.
For information on average student scores on the 2007 TIMSS Math Section for the APEC economies, please click here.
For information on related teacher quality indicators, such as teacher formal education level completed, please click here.
Chart 1. Percentage of 4th Grade Mathematics Teachers with Teaching Certificate by Jurisdiction
