In the last decades research on Educational Effectiveness has been informing policies for many governments around the world. One of the key findings within this area is the importance of classroom and teacher characteristics as predictors of student achievement (UNESCO, 2012; European Commission, 2013). Especially the number of years of teaching experience is of particular importance (e.g. Rice, 2010). This assumption is based on the premise, that students taught by more experienced teachers tend to have a higher academic achievement. However, the same body of research shows that this assumption cannot be easily verified. In order to contribute to the discussion on the association between teacher experience and student achievement, this work addressed three research questions: first, whether teacher experience is associated with student mathematics achievement of fourth graders? Second, what student, teacher, and school characteristics are associated with teacher experience? Third, if the association between teacher experience and student achievement changes when other teacher characteristics are taken into account? To answer these questions, the data from all the participating education systems in the IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 Grade 4 database were used. Preliminary results indicate that, even though the association between teacher experience and student achievement turned out to be significant for a few countries as well as for the international average, the pattern is not evident in all the education systems analysed. In order to answer the second question, the relationship between several other student, teacher and school characteristics and the number of years of teaching experience was investigated. The overall results showed irregular patterns across the education systems analysed. However, the characteristic most consistently associated with teacher experience was the teacher level of formal education. Question three was answered by investigating the relationship between teacher experience and student achievement while controlling for the teacher level of formal education. The outcome showed that the relationship is positive and statistically significant in 13 out of 55 education systems taken into account. Negative and statistically significant association was not found in any education system. The results of our analyses suggest that when it comes to policies related to teacher experience, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Teachers’ career trajectories differ by country. Therefore, policies related to teacher experience should be designed in a context-based fashion.

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