Abstract:

In order to improve K-12 teaching-research work in the new era, it is necessary to identify the current state and problems of teaching-research system across China. However, few empirical studies have examined the quality and equity of teaching-research work across the country, especially from the perspective of teachers for and with whom the teaching-research system works. Based on the data of a representative teacher sample collected from 30 provinces (N=47, 620), this study constructed the teaching-research quality index and the teaching-research equity index, and computed these two indexes’ scores for 30 provinces. The study found that: (a) all provinces with higher scores in the teaching-research quality index are from the East and the Northeast, and the provinces from the Northwest, the Southwest, and the South usually have lower scores; (b) the teaching-research equity index scores appear not to be related with geographical distribution, and Shanghai and Zhejiang win the best scores; (c) the regression analysis results show that the teaching-research quality index scores depend on the working style of teaching-research (professional vs. administrative leadership), the ratio of teachers to teaching-research officers, and years of teaching-research experiences, and the teaching-research equity index scores are related to the working style of teaching-research. Teachers’ perceptions of teaching-research work should be used as an important way to evaluate K-12 teaching-research. Our findings have implications for the improvement of teaching-research system and practices in future.

Key words: teaching-research work, teacher perspective, educational evaluation, educational quality, educational equity