Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21)
Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21) is the first report to come from a small-scale international study funded by the National Science Foundation (REC 0231886). The goal was to examine how the preparation of middle school (lower secondary school internationally) mathematics teachers is accomplished across several countries exhibiting a range of student achievement on the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The TIMSS data revealed that countries with higher achievement gains had teachers who taught substantially different content than that of their less accomplished counterparts. MT21 reports on the final research conducted in six countries: Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, & the United States.
MT21 sought to leverage the potential of an international comparative study to elucidate key important aspects of teacher preparation. Three types of surveys were developed: a Teacher Preparation Institution (Program) survey, a survey for Future Teachers of Middle School Mathematics, and brief Faculty surveys. The first report focuses on findings from the survey of Future Middle School Mathematics Teachers in their final year of teacher preparation.