In 2008, the initial cycle of the OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2008) established, for the first time, an international, large-scale survey of the teaching workforce, the conditions of teaching, and the learning environments of schools in participating countries. The second cycle of TALIS (TALIS 2013) aims to continue the tradition of providing timely, comparable, and useful policy information regarding the conditions of teaching and learning environments to participating OECD countries, non-Member economies, and sub-national entities (TALIS participants). Understanding that recruiting, retaining, and developing teachers is a priority in all school systems worldwide, TALIS examines the ways in which teachers' work is recognised, appraised, and rewarded. In addition, TALIS assesses the degree to which teachers' professional development needs are being met. The study provides insights into the beliefs and attitudes about teaching that teachers bring to the classroom and the pedagogical practices that they adopt. Recognising the important role that school leadership plays in fostering an effective teaching and learning environment, TALIS describes the role of school leaders and examines the support that they give their teachers. Finally TALIS examines the extent to which factors are related to teachers' feelings of job satisfaction and self-efficacy. In an effort to continue to improve TALIS while simultaneously maintaining consistency, new directions for the study have been adopted for the second cycle. At the same time, many of the TALIS 2008 themes, scales, and indicators have been preserved. This approach serves the dual purpose of allowing for the analysis of trends and permitting the investigation of contemporary issues in teaching and learning. To achieve the multiple aims of TALIS, a well-developed conceptual framework is important. The original conceptual framework for the TALIS program was developed by a joint task force comprised of experts from the Indicators of Education Systems (INES) Network A (learning outcomes) and Network C (learning environment and school organisation). With the second cycle of TALIS, further development and extension of the conceptual framework are warranted. The Conceptual Framework contains an introduction and is then followed by three sections. Section I: General Purpose and Policy Relevance of TALIS elaborates on the general purpose and policy goals of TALIS and explains and justifies the type of context information needed to meet these goals; Section II: Knowledge Surrounding Themes and Main Indicators examines the conditions of teaching and learning that have been selected by the participating countries in a way that is relevant to the evaluation of the main policy goals, and themes; and Section III: Design of TALIS 2013 describes the overarching design of the main study. The addition of ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) teachers is detailed, as is the necessity of ISCED-level specific instruments. Appended are: ISCED Levels. [Additional contributors to the report include: Mara Westling Allodi, Ralph Carstens, Jean Dumais, Ben Jensen, Eckhard Klieme, Peter Kloosterman, Paulína Koršnáková, Mareike Kunter, Tadakazu Miki, Sang-Wan Park, Svenja Vieluf, and Eva Wiren.]