Listening To Teachers: Education Sector Goes to School

Accomplished teachers are the heart and soul of the Center for Teaching Quality -- and we are always finding ways to elevate their voice on matters related to their profession and the students they serve. Thanks to the Joyce Foundation, the Education Sector –- a DC-based think tank –- has just released a very interesting, “must read” report capturing the sentiments of over 1000 teachers. The survey that serves as the foundation of the report posed a number of questions (some used in a 2003 survey) to a national sample of teachers, offering a striking comparison of teacher beliefs over time. Although the response rate was low (check out the report’s appendix) and some of the interpretations curiously dubious, the results are captivating and should contribute to conversations around the future of the teaching profession.

The report, intriguingly titled "Waiting to be Won Over," highlights issues related to weak teacher evaluation models, as well as unyielding tenure and compensation systems. It surfaces teacher beliefs regarding reforms designed to improve teaching, proposals for differential pay, and the role of unions. Interestingly, the report also reveals key points of distinction and divergence among new teachers and veterans. 

The survey results show that the nation’s teachers are somewhat at odds with some policy proposals that have been bantered about inside the Beltway. To improve teaching quality, think tanks like Education Sector have proposed offering short-cut alternative pathways into teaching, signing bonuses, and increased starting pay at the expense of forgoing pensions benefits.

But, when asked the best way to attract and retain high-quality teachers to the teaching profession, the respondents’ top recommendations were

• Give teachers more time during the school day for class preparation and planning (85%);
• Make it far easier to leave and return to teaching without losing retirement benefits (78%); and
• Make it easier to earn and take sabbatical leave for teachers working in really challenging schools (70%).

I hope policymakers take note: Teachers, when asked about recruitment and retention strategies, focus first and foremost on tools to help them teach more effectively.

Other fascinating -- albeit not surprising -- findings include:

• While the vast majority of teachers believe that financial incentives are needed for those who teach in high-needs schools and those who earn National Board Certification, only a small minority believe teachers should be rewarded when their “kids routinely score higher than similar students on standardized tests;”
• While 76 percent of teachers report that too many burned-out veterans remain in teaching because they "don't want to walk away from  benefits and service time accrued," only 30 percent of newcomers (20% of veterans) believe that eliminating pensions in favor of higher starting salaries is an excellent or good idea;
• Only 21 percent of non-tenured teachers (and only 29% of tenured ones) would trade their “job security” for significant pay increases -- primarily because the VAST majority of teachers believe they would “vulnerable” to “abusive” administrators "without the union”;
• Over 69 percent of newcomers (and 80% of veterans) believe that their salaries and working conditions would be “much worse” if it was not for their unions -- indeed, since 2003 a dramatic increase (from 30% to 51%) in newcomers believe unions are “absolutely essential;" and
• Less than half of all teachers believe their union “regularly provides information and opportunities to help them be(come) a better teacher” and even less believe “work rules and school duties affecting teachers (should be) defined by contract.”

The upshot is that the report is chock full of interesting findings and challenges to many assumptions that undergird current policy proposals to improve teaching quality. The Education Sector report actually belies some of the organization's own conventional wisdom about unions and their role in education reform. With consistent attacks on the teaching profession, it's no wonder teachers, even the new ones entering the profession, look to unions to stick to their traditional roles of protecting them in the face of “abuses.” That said, teachers want more support in teaching more effectively -- but they are of mixed minds about unions playing a role in doing so. The "role of the union" issue needs more exploration. However, this report does make several points certain. First, the answers to the questions of teaching quality are complex and nuanced. Second, teachers are not adverse to teaching in high need schools as long as they have the tools and supports that can help them teach effectively. Finally, think tanks that focus on improving teaching can begin to "think" differently if they ask classroom teachers about their profession.