Discussions of Findings on Teacher Practice Across Countries, Time, and Chapters

This final chapter discusses the findings from the empirical chapters of the book that focus on different aspects of teacher practice: what teachers teach (content coverage), how teachers teach (teaching quality), and how teachers assess their students (assessment practice). It begins by summarizing the findings from each chapter. Next, the chapter discusses the findings on content coverage by comparing the results across chapters and in light of previous research. A similar comparative discussion is provided for the findings on teaching quality and assessment practices. These discussions place a strong emphasis on the relationships between the three aspects of teacher practice and student achievement, the changes in teacher practice over time, and whether these changes are related to the changes in achievement. The interplay between teacher practice and educational equality is also explored. Subsequently, the chapter addresses the reliability and validity of the findings, reflecting on the conceptual structure of the book and the varying methodological approaches applied in the chapters. Lastly, this chapter outlines the contributions of the book and offers some concluding remarks, with a special emphasis on educational policy. This book seeks to provide valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and educators to better understand and address the challenges facing today’s educational systems.