From teacher quality to teaching quality: Instructional productivity and teaching practices
Abstract
This paper estimates the causal effects of math instructional time on student achievement using within-student variation across math topics in the TIMSS 2011 data. Based on the assessment’s detailed measurement of math skills, it shows that each weekly hour of math instruction in a given topic increases student test scores in that topic by 4.3% of a SD. However, the productivity of instructional time varies significantly based on the implementation of teaching practices that prioritize student active participation: teachers emphasizing these practices are more than twice as productive as other teachers. This result holds true regardless of student gender, social origin, and is observed internationally in 42 countries.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Education Systems and Policy
School Choice and Performance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Economics of Education Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Volume
- 111
- Pages
- 102759–102759
- Publication date
- 20 January 2026
- Language
- EN