Survey of the American Teacher

Every year since 1984, MetLife has published a detailed Survey of the American Teacher.  Past year’s surveys have focused on elements of the teaching experience ranging from school-family partnerships to violence in the schools to school leadership.

This year’s survey, ”Expectations and Experiences,” [PDF] examines the way teachers, principals, and education deans see teacher satisfaction and preparation.

Some of the main findings:

• Principals are twice as likely as education deans to feel that new teachers have unrealistic expectations about their first year, including the number of hours they will work and the number of special needs students they’ll work with.  Principals are also more than five times more likely than deans to report that new teachers are unprepared to engage parents and maintain discipline in their classrooms.  Deans should take note: teachers who report that teaching compares poorly with their expectations are much more likely to say that they are planning to leave the profession.
• In comparing teachers who said they were likely to leave the classroom with those who planned to stay, the study found that teachers who plan to leave are more likely to report that principals do not value their suggestions or appreciate their work and that they are not adequately able to influence the policies that impact them in the classroom.

The issue of whether teacher salaries are a major determinant of teacher dissatisfaction or likelihood to leave is still unresolved for me.  While more than half of principals and education deans cited this as on of the top two determinants of teachers leaving the profession, the data from the teachers is much more nuanced.

Of teachers who reported they were likely to leave the profession, 69% said they felt their salary was not fair for the work they did.  But 63% of teachers who said they were NOT likely to leave the profession said the same thing!  More significant differences were seen in questions that asked teachers about the level of respect, support, and collegiality they experienced at their school.

According to the report, “All other factors held equal, new teachers who feel other teachers do not go out of their way for them are more than three times as likely to leave the profession.”

Labels: Conversations

Posted by jimpud2 on June 5, 2007 8:45 AM

From the summary:

“All other factors held equal, new teachers who fell other teachers do not go out of their way for them are three times as likely to leave the profession.”

For most of my years of teaching, it was basically a solitary profession. I went in my classroom, closed the door and taught my students. Only in the last 5 years of my career did my middle-school move to teams of teachers.

The interdisciplinary teams made it possible, even necessary, for the teachers to work together and support each other. I would recommend that all schools design such a team atmosphere, whether it be subject matter, grade level or interdisciplinary.

Perhaps a widespread use of teams would assist in teacher retetntion