Norwegian version of this page

Teachers’ Effect on Student Outcome (TESO) (completed)

This project followed students from grade 9 to 10 investigating which aspects of teachers’ competence and instruction promote students’ increased learning outcome, motivation and well-being.

How does teacher competence effect instruction and student learning? Photo of teacher with group of students: colourbox.

How does teacher competence effect instruction and student learning? Photo: colourbox.

About the project

TESO was a project that aimed to increase the knowledge about the importance of teachers for student well-being, learning gains, and motivation in science and mathematics. What is the importance of teachers’ competence for their instruction, and how does this competence and instruction affect the students?

Could it be that certain types of practices work better for some groups of students (e.g. native speakers of Norwegian), while other types of practices work better for another group of students (not native speakers)?

To be able to draw robust and generalizable inferences related to these questions, a longitudinal extension of the international large-scale survey Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) with representative samples of students was carried out, along with a video study with a representative subsample of these students in Oslo.

Objectives

The research project had two main aims:

1. to examine what aspects of teacher competence and instruction that foster increased well-being, motivation and learning gain in mathematics and science.

2. to examine what types of practices that are effective for different groups of students (gender, family background, and mother tongue).

Background and data

Theoretically, TESO builds on previous research from Germany and the US as these are leading milieus within this field. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected; In addition to tests in mathematics and science for students in grade 9 and 10, these students and their teachers responded to questionnaires. A subsample of the students (representative of Oslo) also participated in a video study. The four year project was started in the autumn of 2018 and two PhD students were involved in the project.

Financing

The project was financed by the Norwegian Research Council (the FINNUT program).

Cooperation

CEMO - Centre for Educational Measurement

Naturfagsenteret

Subproject

Teaching quality and student learning (PhD-project)

Senden, Bas; Jentsch, Armin; Teig, Nani; Nilsen, Trude; Fauskanger, Janne & Frågåt, Thomas [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2025). Context matters: adapting and validating the TEDS-instruct observation instrument assessing teaching quality for its use in Norwegian primary education. Frontiers in Education. 10. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1483092. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The current investigation aims to adapt and validate the Teacher Education and Development Study-Instruct observation instrument for assessing teaching quality in new contexts: Norwegian Grade 6 mathematics and science lessons. More specifically, the article examines content validity and reliability in the new contexts using a multi-methods approach, involving the Delphi technique and generalizability theory. Findings suggest that while the core components of the instrument are relevant in the new contexts, specific adaptations are necessary to capture teaching quality in a more nuanced and meaningful way. Based on the findings, specific adaptions are made to the instrument. Finally, recommendations for developing and using the instrument in the new contexts are provided. The current investigation underscores the importance of contextual sensitivity in the assessment of teaching quality.
Nilsen, Trude; Senden, Bas; Ye, Wangqiong; Jentsch, Armin; Teig, Nani & König, Johannes (2025). Mathematics teaching quality in classrooms of different compositions in Norway. ZDM: Mathematics Education. ISSN 1863-9690. doi: 10.1007/s11858-025-01722-y. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Educational inequalities are increasing globally, including in Norway. Many studies have highlighted the importance of teaching quality (TQ) in reducing these inequalities. However, it remains unclear how different classroom compositions shape TQ and how TQ is distributed between advantaged and disadvantaged classrooms in Norway. This knowledge is crucial for teacher education and educational policy, especially given that substantial compensatory funding is allocated to schools with high proportions of disadvantaged students. The present study examined the association between classroom composition and TQ in mathematics. We also examined the distribution of TQ and the number of teachers per classroom across classrooms of diverse compositions (in terms of socio-economic status (SES) and immigrant background). Two-level structural equation modelling was used to analyze data from a representative sample of 5th-graders from Norway (N = 3951) and Oslo (N = 922). To contextualize the results in terms of segregation and educational inequality across classrooms, the study also estimated the compositional effects of SES and immigration backgrounds on mathematics achievement across these classrooms. To examine the characteristics of TQ more deeply, we also analyzed video observations from a subsample of 15 Oslo classrooms (121 twenty-minute segments) using the TEDS-Instruct observational instrument. Findings from student questionnaires and the video study were consistent. Low-SES classrooms and those with many immigrants showed higher cognitive activation, a more supportive climate, and more teachers per classroom. In contrast, high-SES classrooms and those with few immigrants exhibited higher levels of classroom management. Implications for teacher education and further research are discussed.
Jentsch, Armin; Senden, Bas; Teig, Nani; Nilsen, Trude; König, Johannes & Kaiser, Gabriele Agnes Hildegard (2025). Using Generalizability Theory to examine the effects of presentation order on classroom observation scores. Frontiers in Education. 10. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1547204. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Background: Scores from classroom observations serve as important pieces of information for educational researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. However, scoring procedures typically remain untested. This study aims to investigate the effect of sequential and nonsequential scoring of lesson segments from videotaped Norwegian mathematics and science classrooms. Methods: Using a cross-over design, we randomly assigned four raters to score 30 videotaped lessons in sequential (SEQ) or nonsequential (NON) 20-min segments. We explored means as well as correlations across conditions and conducted Generalizability Studies (G Studies) to estimate the precision of scores. Results: We found marginal fluctuations in scores across conditions, and correlation analysis indicated similar rankings of lessons and classrooms. However, G Studies reveal that nonsequential scoring captures a greater proportion of between-classroom variance, while sequential scoring captures more variance between lessons. This also implies that the precision of scores varies across conditions and the unit of analysis. Conclusion: The findings suggest that scoring procedures could affect decision-making drawing on scores from classroom observation. We argue, however, that results depend to some extent on the observation system used to generate the scores. Therefore, we encourage researchers to replicate our findings with other observation systems.
Senden, Bas; Teig, Nani & Nilsen, Trude (2023). Studying the comparability of student perceptions of teaching quality across 38 countries. International Journal of Educational Research Open. 5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedro.2023.100309. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Student perceptions are rarely used to compare teaching quality across countries due to the challenge of ensuring a comparable construct or achieving exact measurement invariance. The present study aims to evaluate the extent to which student perceptions of teaching quality can be used for valid cross-national comparisons. To this end, the study aims to overcome challenges associated with traditional measurement invariance by applying a novel method – alignment optimization. Based on data from 38 countries from the 2019 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), our results showed limited comparability across countries with variation between behavioral management and instructional clarity scales. We review potential causes of non-comparability using the estimated mean scores. Implications for further research are discussed.
Senden, Bas; Nilsen, Trude & Teig, Nani (2023). The validity of student ratings of teaching quality: Factorial structure, comparability, and the relation to achievement. Studies in Educational Evaluation. ISSN 0191-491X. 78. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2023.101274. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Student ratings are widely used to assess teaching quality in primary and secondary education. This necessitates a thorough examination their validity and reliability in such contexts. To this end, we present validity evidence for using student ratings of teaching quality based on their factorial structure, comparability across grades and subjects, and relation to achievement. Based on data from the 2019 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its national extensions in Norway (N = 3951 5th graders and N = 4575 9th graders), we could confirm a theoretically assumed three-dimensional factor structure (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, and supportive climate). Moreover, classroom management and supportive climate were more comparable across grades and subjects then cognitive activation. Finally, classroom management was associated with achievement across all groups, whereas other dimensions showed mixed results, especially across grades. Overall, the findings indicate that students, especially in Grade 9, can provide a valid assessment of teaching quality.
Teig, Nani & Nilsen, Trude (2022). Profiles of instructional quality in primary and secondary education: Patterns, predictors, and relations to student achievement and motivation in science. Studies in Educational Evaluation. ISSN 0191-491X. 74. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2022.101170. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Teachers implement different types of instruction, and the quality of their instruction is crucial for enhancing student outcomes. However, studies examining various patterns of teachers’ instructional quality are scarce, particularly in science teaching. Even fewer studies have investigated the nature of instructional quality in primary and secondary education. This study analysed the Norwegian data from the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015, using Grades 5 and 9 from primary and secondary education. Using multi-level latent class analysis, we identified distinct profiles of instructional quality that focused on four aspects of instructional clarity: clarity of instruction and teacher support (i.e., engaging teaching, social and emotional support, and subject domain support) at the student and classroom levels. The findings showed that the patterns of these profiles varied across different aspects of instructional quality in both grades. Further analyses revealed that student characteristics, particularly language at home and socioeconomic status, predicted the profile memberships at the student level, whereas teacher competence (i.e., self-efficacy in science teaching) predicted the profile memberships at the classroom level. In addition, different profiles of instructional quality were significantly related to motivation and, to a certain extent, achievement in science. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on instructional quality and for the design of personalized professional development programmes that aim to improve teacher instruction in primary and secondary science classrooms.
Teig, Nani (2022). Inquiry in Science Education. In Nilsen, Trude; Stancel-Piątak, Agnes & Gustafsson, Jan-Eric (Ed.), International Handbook of Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education. Springer. ISSN 9783030382988. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-38298-8_62-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Inquiry has played a major role in the past and present science education reforms around the world. Despite a great number of studies leveraging TIMSS and PISA data to investigate inquiry in science education, there is little effort to synthesize their findings. The present study aims to systematically review how TIMSS and PISA data were used to investigate inquiry and discuss how the findings contributed to the overall research on inquiry in science education. Patterns and findings from the TIMSS and PISA research were synthesized across the three strands of inquiry research to identify the relevant factors that explain (1) teachers’ frequent implementation of inquiry as an instructional approach, (2) students’ performance in inquiry or inquiry as an instructional outcome, and (3) the relationships between inquiry as an instructional approach and outcome. Findings indicated that the majority of the studies emphasized the third strand of inquiry research by examining the relationships between inquiry and student achievement. Although these studies used similar data, their conceptualizations and measurements of inquiry as an instructional approach varied considerably. This chapter provides an overview of the assessment of inquiry in TIMSS and PISA targeted to science education researchers who are unfamiliar with this field in the hope of encouraging them to utilize these data. It also encourages other researchers to reflect upon the knowledge gained from harnessing TIMSS and PISA data as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Senden, Bas; Nilsen, Trude & Blömeke, Sigrid (2021). Instructional Quality: A Review of Conceptualizations, Measurement Approaches, and Research Findings. In Klette, Kirsti; Blikstad-Balas, Marte & Tengberg, Michael (Ed.), Ways of Analyzing Teaching Quality.Potentials and Pitfalls. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215045061. p. 140–172. doi: 10.18261/9788215045054-2021-05. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This chapter reviews and discusses conceptualizations, measurement approaches, and research findings of instructional quality. Although agreement on how to conceptualize and measure instructional quality is rare, some common ground can be found. In addition, research findings indicate that the role of instructional quality for student learning might vary across contexts, hinting towards the importance of differential effectiveness for instructional quality.

View all works in NVA

Senden, Bas (2024). Accumulating validity evidence for the assessment of teaching quality in Norway: An argument-based approach towards validating proposed uses of two teaching quality assessments. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This dissertation addresses the assessment of teaching quality in primary and secondary education in Norway, specifically focusing on two assessments: (1) through observer ratings obtained using the TEDS-Instruct standardized observation instrument, and (2) through student ratings obtained using the TIMSS 2019 student questionnaire. The overarching aim is to evaluate the plausibility of these two assessments being valid for their proposed interpretations and uses — a process known as validation. To achieve this, the dissertation employs an argument-based approach to validation. In line with the argument-based approach to validation, the dissertation first develops an interpretation and use argument, which outlines proposed interpretations and uses of the two assessments as well as adjoining claims and inferences that can be evaluated. Student ratings of teaching quality obtained usingthe TIMSS 2019 student questionnaire were found to be used in three ways: (1) to help interpret changes in achievement over time, (2) to make comparisons across countries, and (3) to study relations between teaching quality and student learning outcomes. Observer ratings obtained using the TEDS-Instruct standardized observation instrument were found to be primarily used to study the relations between teaching quality and student learning outcomes. Subsequent steps involved gathering theory and empirical evidence to determine the extent of support for the proposed interpretations and uses (validity). Of particular importance are the three articles incorporated in this dissertation, since they provide empirical evidence on various aspects related to reliability and validity. Moreover, to assist the validation effort, an extended theoretical background as well as methodology and methodological considerations are put forward. This comprehensive approach ensures a robust evaluation of the proposed interpretations and uses and provides the foundations for an in-depth discussion. Results from the evaluation indicate that the two assessments can be used for their proposed interpretations and uses, but often only to a limited extent. Moreover, the extent to which the two assessments can be used for their proposed interpretations and purposes depends on the research design and the design of the instrument. Therefore, the discussion focuses on how to improve the instruments so they better fit their proposed purposes and consequently enhance validity. While the dissertation primarily focuses on validating the interpretations and uses of two specific instruments in the Norwegian context, the information presented, particularly in the theory and discussion chapters, is broadly applicable to the field of teaching quality and its assessment, with a focus on student or observer ratings. This broader applicability underscores the significance of the dissertation to the global discourse on teaching quality assessment.

View all works in NVA

Published July 24, 2018 3:50 PM - Last modified Oct. 12, 2026 3:19 PM