New MetLife Teacher Survey Shows Economy's Effects on the Profession

By Barnett Berry

3/7/12

SurveyOnce again, MetLife’s Survey of the American Teacher offers deep insights into the status of America’s teaching profession.

Teachers report significant reductions in school budgets, programs, and services. Meanwhile, students and their families report an increase in needs.

And, strikingly, teacher satisfaction is lower than it has been in more than two decades, with a precipitous drop of 15 points since 2009.

The survey reveals factors connected to high job satisfaction: adequate opportunities for professional development, time to collaborate with colleagues, and more preparation to engage parents effectively.

Of course, other research has shown that these same factors benefit students.

Policymakers should take this data seriously—and take action. Why not redesign schools so teachers have the time, opportunities, and supports they need to help students succeed? TEACHING 2030, supported by MetLife Foundation, outlines bold yet practical ways to transform schools to better serve students.   

Each year, the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher promotes a nuanced understanding of challenges faced by teachers and those they serve. I hope policymakers will take note—and help to create the public school system that all students deserve. 

Want to continue the conversation? Twitter's a good place to start: Follow the hashtag #TeacherSurvey to read what teachers, policymakers, and the media are saying about the survey.

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Comments

Teachers Leadership & Social Capital

Submitted by Gamal Sherif (not verified) on Wed, 2012-03-07 14:48

You're right, Barnett,

Education policy is the leverage point to create the conditions where more teachers and students can flourish. Specifically, teachers need the working conditions that enrich their social capital.

Until we normalize teacher leadership, we will continue to chip away at the edges of education reform and enrichment -- and the dominant reform effort will continue to destabilize public education as a foundation for an engaged democracy.

Gamal

working conditions for teacher leadership

Submitted by Ariel (not verified) on Sun, 2012-03-11 14:47

Barnett, great, concise post on the MetLife survey results. Teaching 2030 provides a strong blueprint for addressing these disheartening facts...

Gamal, I'd like to add to your point about normalizing teacher leadership--we need to create working conditions that truly allow for teacher leadership. So many of us take on leadership in addition to full time teaching, which is already an endlessly demanding job. We need to normalize not only the idea of teacher leadership in ed policy, but we need to create schedules and roles that support sustainable leadership work. I see some movement in this direction--the teacherpreneur roles in CTQ's New Millennium groups, some hybrid roles happening in individual locations, such as my school, and perhaps the USDOE teacher ambassador program? (You clearly have more knowledge on that than I do!).

At the same time, there are still so many knowledgeable teachers who wouldn't even think of getting involved in leadership or policy because of how busy they are with teaching... and I can't blame them until we make the conditions more conducive to the teacher leader.

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