This study focused on the impact of international assessments on mathematics teacher development in the Kingdom of Saudi and identify teachers’ qualifications, experience and participation in professional development and some other variables associated with it.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education is dedicated to delivering high quality education, but most students score below the international average. Preliminary research on performance in KSA indicates that most students record low scores in the mathematics subject. As show in the recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) scores published in 2015.
Professional development relates to many kinds of instructional experience associated with the job of an individual. Doctors, attorneys, teachers, and individuals from a broad variety of professions and businesses are involved in professional development to learn and apply new understanding and abilities that will enhance their job performance.
The present research examines the variables that contribute to low mathematical TIMSS results and evaluates how these results can be used to improve teaching suggestions.
Data collect and analysed in this study were the responses of mathematics teachers in Saudi Arabia to the Teacher Background Questionnaire-4th Grade from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2015.
A correlation analysis was also performed, and the results revealed a significant positive relationship in professional development between Mathematics content and Mathematics curriculum (r=0.668).The analysis also detected a significant positive relationship was found between teachers Preparation in both topics: Concepts of whole numbers, including place value and ordering / Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and/or dividing with whole numbers (r=0.612).