COACTIV

What skills do teachers need in order to create opportunities for successful learning in the classroom? The COACTIV project examines the relative importance of several aspects of teacher competence for the instructional quality of mathematics lessons in Germany.

The project’s main research questions are as follows:

• Which aspects of teacher competence can be identified empirically and how do they relate to one another?
• Which aspects of teacher competence influence teachers’ classroom practice?
• What are the direct and indirect influences of teacher competence on student learning outcomes?

The study is embedded in the national PISA 2003/2004 assessment, and surveys the mathematics teachers of the participating classes. A number of instruments, some of them newly developed, were administered to assess different aspects of teacher competence. These new instruments, which include tests of teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, allow us to identify those aspects of teacher competence that are associated with successful instruction.

COACTIV is a cooperative research project involving our Research Center, the University of Kassel, and the University of Oldenburg. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of its priority program on School Quality (BIQUA).