The effect of teacher education programs on future elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge

Periodical
Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education
Volume
19
Year
2016
Issue number
4
Page range
371-396
Relates to study/studies
TEDS-M 2008

The effect of teacher education programs on future elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge

A five-country analysis using TEDS-M data

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of how opportunities to learn in teacher education programs influence future elementary mathematics teachers' knowledge. This study used data collected for the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M). TEDS-M measured the mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and the mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) of future teachers in their final year in teacher preparation programs. The purpose of this study is to explore whether elementary teaching candidates' MCK and MPCK are associated with their opportunities to learn in mathematics courses and mathematics methods courses in five countries. The results showed that opportunities to learn in some teacher preparation components are more important than in other components.