TALIS 2018 Framework

Institutional environment

• Human resource issues and stakeholder relations
  • Formal performance appraisals at school and system level
  • Development of performance-related reward systems
• School leadership
  • Qualifications, recruitment, and development of principals
  • Role, function, and actions of principals
  • Distributed leadership and teacher leadership
  • System leadership and leadership in networks of schools
• School climate
  • School and classroom climate variation within and between countries
  • The relationship between school and classroom climate and teacher and school outcomes

Teacher characteristics

• Teacher education and initial preparation
  • Year when initial teacher education was completed
  • Level of formal education
  • Alternative pathways to teaching
  • Type of institution (e.g., university, pedagogical college)
  • Duration of teacher education
  • Attendance in concurrent, consecutive or alternative program
  • Grade range for which the initial teacher education prepares teachers to teach
  • Type(s) of school at which the initial teacher education prepares teachers to teach
  • Teacher education entrance requirements (school examination, university examination, practical experience)
  • Type and content of completed degree program in relation to the subject the future teacher intends to teach (number of majors and minors, training as generalists)
  • Whether the degree includes a major in the subject of teaching (pedagogy)
  • Relative emphasis on learning content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and general pedagogical knowledge, as well as practical (field) experiences, as measured by the learning opportunities the program provides
  • Sense of preparedness for different teaching tasks, such as teaching content, classroom management, accommodating student heterogeneity, and responding effectively to individual learning needs
  • Teaching as a lifelong career
• Teacher job satisfaction and motivation
  • Variation in teacher affect within and across countries
  • Relationship of teacher affect to other educational factors
  • Relationship of teacher affect to other teacher attributes and behaviors
• Teacher feedback and development
  • What forms of feedback are available to teachers?
  • What forms of feedback do teachers perceive as influential in their teaching and other aspects of their professional practice (e.g., job satisfaction, motivation, self-efficacy, instructional practices, school climate)?
  • What forms of professional development do teachers perceive as having an impact on their teaching and other aspects of their professional practice (e.g., job satisfaction and motivation, self-efficacy, instructional practices, school climate)?
  • What connections exist between teacher feedback and development?
  • Do teachers perceive feedback to be a feature of effective professional development?
  • Does feedback stimulate further professional development?
  • In what ways does professional development stimulate and support innovation in teaching and learning?
• Teacher self-efficacy
  • Fostering cross-curricular skills such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving
  • Using information and communication technology to support student learning
  • Accommodating student needs in multicultural learning environments

Teachers’ practices

• Instructional practices
  • Profile of teaching practices with respect to the dimensions of instructional quality
    • Classroom management as indicated by a positive disciplinary climate
    • Clarity of instruction
    • Cognitive activation
    • Feedback to students
    • Assessment strategies
    • Lesson time spent on teaching and learning
  • Profile of teaching practices with respect to 21st century instruction
    • Fostering students’ cross-curricular skills
    • Accounting for equity and diversity in classrooms
• Professional practices
  • What do teachers and principals perceive to be the conditions under which collaboration can effectively occur (including a balance with autonomy)?
  • What forms of collaboration do teachers think influence their teaching practices and student learning?
  • What connections exist between collaboration and development? Do teachers perceive collaboration to be a feature of effective professional development?
  • Does collaboration stimulate further teacher professional development?
  • In what ways does collaboration stimulate and support innovation in teaching practice?
  • What do teachers and principals perceive to be the teacher’s role in school decision making?
  • What do teachers and principals perceive to be the teacher’s role in leadership?
  • In what ways does academic mobility stimulate and support teacher learning and teaching quality (e.g., in teacher development, collaboration, instructional practices, innovation) and other aspects of teachers’ professional practice (e.g., job satisfaction, motivation, self-efficacy)?

Intersecting themes and those that apply to both the institutional and teacher level

• Innovation
  • Innovative teaching practices
    • Teachers’ preparedness for fostering innovative educational outcomes such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving (i.e., cross-curricular skills)
    • Integration of information and communication technology in teaching practices
    • Individual innovativeness (teacher level)
    • Teachers’ general innovativeness and openness towards innovation in teaching.
  • School climate with respect to openness toward innovation (teacher and principal level):
    • At the organizational level
    • With respect to professional learning communities (i.e., teacher teams).
• Equity and diversity
  • Capacity of teachers to respond to differences in students’ cultural backgrounds
  • School practices in relation to cultural diversity