Is Teachers’ Professional Development Effective for Primary School Students? Evidence from TIMSS 2019

In education, research has shown that teaching quality is a decisive factor in student learning. However, as in many countries the role and functioning of schools are undergoing significant changes, the expectations placed on teachers are also changing. Indeed, we expect teachers to be able to manage increasingly multicultural classes, use technology more effectively, encourage student participation in the classroom, and involve parents more in school. For this reason, traditional pre-service training proves unequal to its mission of preparing teachers for all the challenges they will not be able to escape during their career. From this perspective, professional development can be an important strategy that can help teachers expand their knowledge and skills to implement the best educational practices and, accordingly,raise student achievement. This is also the research hypothesis for this essay, which aims to investigate the effect of primary school teachers’ professional development on 4th grade students’ achievement. To this end, data from the 2019 cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were analysed. Against conventional wisdom, we do not find evidence of a positive relationship between teachers’ professional development and academic achievement. Rather, this paper presents clear findings of no significant effects.