The same yet different? Teaching quality differs across a teacher's classes, but teachers with higher knowledge make teaching quality more similar

Teachers usually teach different classes. We examined the extent to which teaching quality varied across a teacher's classes and the extent to which it was influenced by a teacher's knowledge. We applied three-level models (levels: student, class, and teacher) to our data on 210 beginning teachers. Students from up to five classes per teacher rated the teaching quality with regard to cognitive activation, student support, classroom disturbances, and monitoring. We found that teaching quality varied substantially across a teacher's classes. Furthermore, teachers with higher pedagogical/psychological knowledge exhibited higher teaching quality and, to some extent, lower variability in teaching quality across their classes. Thus, teachers' pedagogical/psychological knowledge seems to be important for achieving high average teaching quality and for adopting to different classroom contexts. As a substantial proportion of the variance across a teacher's classes cannot be explained by teachers' knowledge, we discuss the need for research on other influencing factors.

Automated summary

Teaching quality varies across a teacher's classes, and it is influenced by a teacher's pedagogical/psychological knowledge. Teachers with higher knowledge exhibit higher teaching quality and lower variability in teaching quality across their classes.