Quality Mathematics Instructional Practices Contributing to Student Achievements in Five High-Achieving Asian Education Systems: An Analysis Using TIMSS 2011 Data

Although teaching quality is seen as crucial in affecting students' performance, what types of instructional practices constitute quality teaching remains a question. With the theoretical assumptions of conceptual and procedural mathematics teaching as a guide, this study examined the types of quality mathematics instructional practices that affect students' mathematics learning across five high-performing Asian education systems using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 dataset. It found that no combinations of the components of conceptual and procedural mathematics teaching practices exist consistently across the five education systems. Results from the study provide important implications for practitioners and policy makers regarding how to improve mathematics teaching and learning in these Asian education systems as well as elsewhere.