The International Activities Program at the National Center for Education Statistics will begin field testing a survey of teaching best practices and conditions this spring. The effort is part of the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), an initiative of the the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that aims to collect information about teaching around the world.
The first TALIS was conducted in 2008, but the U.S. did not participate. Here’s how the OECD describes the difference between that round and this one:
The first TALIS cycle—TALIS 2008—focused on lower secondary education teachers and was conducted in 24 countries across four continents. TALIS 2013 has a wider scope: it will have more than 30 countries or regions as participants. TALIS 2013 will also give participating countries the option to survey teachers in elementary and upper secondary schools.
On NCES’s website, NCES Commissioner Jack Buckley says, “TALIS will provide the United States important comparative information about how the teaching profession is structured and experienced by teachers around the world. It will also provide important insight into some of the top-performing education systems in the world.”
The International Activities Program “coordinates the participation of U.S. adults, students, teachers, and schools in various international education studies.” Earlier this winter, the program released snapshots comparing student performance on reading, science, and math tests in the U.S. with performance in various other countries.