Institutional pathways linking teacher education and professional development to instructional quality

Teacher education and professional development (PD) are central institutional mechanisms for strengthening instructional quality, yet their relevance may differ for teachers working within versus outside their formal fields of preparation. Using questionnaire data from 1,324 mathematics, science, and technology teachers participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, this study examines associations between teacher preparation, PD, employment conditions, and instructional practices designed to foster critical thinking, problem solving, knowledge transfer, and self-regulated learning. Results indicate that pedagogically oriented PD, particularly learning focused on curriculum and classroom practice, is positively associated with greater use of higher-order instructional practices among both in-field and out-of-field teachers. Among out-of-field teachers, advanced academic qualifications are additionally associated with greater emphasis on higher-order instructional practices, challenging assumptions that teaching outside one’s field of preparation necessarily constrains instructional quality. Differences by contract status further suggest that employment conditions afford opportunities to enact these practices. Collectively, the findings extend research on out-of-field teaching by demonstrating that teacher learning opportunities and organizational conditions matter more for instructional practice than field alignment alone. The study offers policy-relevant evidence for designing teacher education, PD, and employment supports for increasingly diverse STEM teaching workforces.