**6. Conclusions**

First, PSTP can be divided into content knowledge preparation and pedagogical content knowledge preparation.

Second, there are differences in PSTP by subject. Chinese and chemistry teachers' preservice preparation is below average, while mathematics teachers' pre-service preparation is above average.

Third, the impact of PSTP on student performance varies across subjects. Chinese teachers' content knowledge preparation significantly negatively influences student performance in Chinese, while their pedagogical content knowledge preparation significantly positively impacts student performance in Chinese. Chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge preparation has a significant negative effect on students' chemistry achievement.

In general, the research on the impact of teacher preparation on student achievement can provide guidance to better develop the criteria for teacher selection. Meanwhile, the empirical results reveal differences in teachers' pre-service preparation in different subjects and the impact on student performance could be inconsistent. Therefore, we should further devise a more accurate teacher training system by subject and give teachers proper training to promote their development as well as the innovation of teaching practice.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, X.L. and L.C.; methodology, X.L.; data curation, X.L. and W.G.; writing—original draft preparation, X.L. and W.G.; writing—review and editing, X.L. and W.G.; funding acquisition, L.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This paper was funded by the International Joint Research Project of Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (ICER201908).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Ethical review and approval were waived for this study as we did not collect any information that could identify the participants during the data collection process. Therefore, according to the ethical review regulations, such research does not require ethical review.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Written informed consent has been obtained from the subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data that support the findings of this study will be made available from the authors upon reasonable request.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to thank Yi Wei of the China Institute for Educational Finance Research at Peking University for her data support.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

## **References**


**Disclaimer/Publisher's Note:** The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
