After 25 Years of Reform: Teachers See Better Schools, Achievement, Careers

After 25 years of reform...

… teachers are more satisfied in their careers.

… academic standards and curriculum are stronger.

… teachers are better prepared.

… teachers are addressing diversity better and giving more personal attention to students.

… teachers are more prepared to deal with school violence.

… students are better prepared, more ambitious, and more trusting of teachers.

… many students may not be improving sufficiently, however, as they move to higher grade levels.

… teachers place less value on standardized tests.

… parental support and school relationships have improved.

… progress is less for urban schools.

Today’s teachers …

… continue to be passionate about teaching.

… feel well supported.

… put a high premium on experience.

… often agree with principals, but differ substantially on some major issues.

Looking to the future, public school educators …

… do not see teacher supply or teacher retention as serious problems for their school.

… see teachers as better prepared.

… are likely to recommend teaching as a career to young people, at a time fewer students express an interest in teaching.

… support the concept of teamwork more than they may practice it.

… feel schools are not doing a good job educating for global awareness.

… value technology and use the Internet and digital communication in varying degrees.

… but have not explored the range of digital communication available for professional development and interaction.

… and do not receive high marks from students on ability to teach about computers or the Internet.

Such are the findings of ...

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present and Future (2008) is the 25th anniversary edition of a survey series begun in 1984, and there is good news to report.

Many of the findings are substantially more positive than they have been in the past.

One striking finding is the improvement in teachers’ assessment of the state of their profession. Teachers today are more satisfied in their careers than teachers were in earlier years. While their love of teaching has been a constant over the last 25 years, today more teachers feel respected in society, recognized for their work and better compensated than they have in the past.

They rate the quality of their schools higher, as well as their school’s academic standards and curricula.

Overall, principals agree with teachers on the improvements of career satisfaction and school quality and are generally even more positive than teachers in their assessments.

The trends on student achievement are also positive.

Teachers view students today as better prepared for grade level work and they see improvements in student knowledge on specific subjects and skills. Most principals and teachers believe their schools do well in preparing students for college, and a higher percentage of students aspire to attend college today than 20 years ago (and girls aspire to go at higher rates than boys). Teachers and students generally feel encouraged by their school culture to build strong relationships with one another.

Students generally rate teachers highly in preparing them academically, and students today are more trusting of their teachers than they were in past decades. Students often mention interpersonal skills when asked about what makes a good teacher....

...However, there are serious causes for concern which pose challenges to educators and policymakers.

Educators in urban schools are significantly less positive in their assessment of many factors than their colleagues in suburban and rural schools. Teachers and principals tend to rate urban schools significantly lower on school quality, and teachers and principals in schools with a high proportion of minority students give significantly lower ratings on academic standards, curriculum, and student preparation. Urban educators also show greater concern about factors including the supply of qualified 22 teachers, teacher turnover, student dropout rates, quality of college preparation, school disciplinary policy, parental support, poverty and poor nutrition...

Much has changed in education over the past 25 years, and the education environment will continue to change. Education reform since 1984 has shifted from a focus on teaching to a focus on student achievement, with teachers as leaders in a responsibility more broadly shared among teachers, administrators, parents, the community and the students themselves. Teachers today have access to a wider range of resources for instruction, professional development, and professional communication than teachers did in 1984. ...

Fewer teachers today value standardized testing as a resource for improving teaching than in the past...

The Numbers After 25 years of reform …

… teachers are more satisfied in their careers.

• A majority of teachers (62%) are very satisfied with their careers, compared to 40% in 1984.
• More teachers (66%) feel respected in society today, compared to 47% in 1984.
• Nearly twice as many teachers in 2008 agree that their job allows them the opportunity to earn a decent salary (66%), compared to 1984 (37%).
• More teachers report that they are usually recognized for good performance (48%), compared to 1984 (33%).
• Far more teachers today (75%) report that they would advise a young person to pursue a career in teaching, compared to 1984 (45%).
• Highly experienced teachers with more than 20 years of experience (67%) and new teachers with five years or less experience (66%) are more likely than mid-career teachers with 6 to 20 years of experience (58%) to be very satisfied with their careers.

… academic standards and curriculum are stronger.

• The number of teachers who rate the academic standards in their school as excellent has doubled from 26% in 1984 to 53% today.
• Nine in ten teachers (89%) rate their school curriculum as excellent or good in 2008, compared to eight in ten teachers (81%) who rated it as excellent or good in 1984.
• Today, twice as many teachers rate availability of materials and supplies as excellent compared to 1984 (44% vs. 22%).

… teachers are better prepared.

• Two thirds (67%) of teachers agree that the training and preparation teachers receive today does a good job of preparing them for the classroom, compared to 46% of teachers in 1984.
• More principals (51%) report that the quality of new teachers entering the profession is stronger currently than it was in 1986 (44%), and those principals reporting that teacher quality was better in the past has declined (7% vs. 15%).

… teachers are addressing diversity better and giving more personal attention to students.

• More teachers in 2008 than in 1992 report being well prepared to address important challenges to student learning (in schools where at least a quarter of the students face the challenge): poverty (80% vs. 56%); problems speaking or understanding the English language (79% vs. 66%); lack of parental support (79% vs. 63%); and poor health (60% vs. 51%).
• Most teachers (88%) rate their school policy about serving students with special needs as
  excellent or good, compared to 72% who rated their school policy on children with disabilities excellent or good in the 1984 MetLife Survey.
• More students today compared to 1988 feel they get personal attention from their teacher most or all of the time (42% vs. 25%), and fewer students today than in 1988 report hardly ever receiving attention (7% vs. 20%).
• Fewer students (18%) agree that teachers cannot relate to them because of differences in
  backgrounds, compared to 1988 (25%).

… teachers are more prepared to deal with school violence.

• Far more teachers in 2008 (63%) feel prepared to address school violence than in 1992 (36%).

...students are better prepared, more ambitious, and more trusting of teachers.

• A majority of teachers (54%) report that at least three-fourths of their students arrive at school prepared to learn at grade level, compared to 44% in 1992.
• In 1988, eight in ten students (79%) said they were likely to go to college, compared to 90% today. The ranks of the “very likely” attendees increased even more dramatically over the past 20 years: from 58% to 73% between 1988 and 2008.
• Girls report that they are very likely to go to college at significantly higher rates than boys (95% vs. 86%).
• Teachers (77%) and principals (78%) report that their schools do an excellent or good job of preparing students for college.
• The number of secondary school students who trust their teachers only a little, or not at all decreased to 28% in 2008 from 39% in 2000.

… many students may not be improving sufficiently, however, as they move to higher grade levels.

• Teacher ratings of student skills as "excellent or good" are substantially lower for secondary schools than elementary schools in subjects including reading (67% vs. 83%), writing (53% vs. 68%) and math (53% vs. 79%).

… teachers place less value on standardized tests.

• In 1984, three in five teachers (61%) were in favor of standardized tests to measure student achievement of all the students in their school. Today half (48%) of teachers agree that standardized tests are effective in helping them to track student performance.

… parental support and school relationships have improved.

• More teachers today (67%) than in 1984 (54%) rate parental and community support for their school as good or excellent.
• A larger proportion of principals (70%) and teachers (63%) agree that relations between parents and schools have improved in recent years.
• Half of teachers (50%) report that lack of parental support or help is a serious hindrance to learning for at least a quarter of their students, down from 65% in 1992.

… progress is less for urban schools.

• Teachers in urban schools are less likely than those in rural schools or suburban schools to rate academic standards in their school as excellent (45% vs. 52% vs. 60%).
• Teachers in urban schools are less likely than those in suburban schools to rate the availability of teaching materials as excellent (33% vs. 54%).
• Three in five (61%) teachers in urban schools rate their disciplinary policy as excellent or good, compared to three quarters of rural (75%) and suburban (74%) teachers.
• Teachers in urban schools are twice as likely as teachers in suburban schools to say that getting a sufficient number of qualified teachers is a serious problem (40% vs. 19%).
• Urban principals are more likely than rural or suburban principals to report that more than a quarter of their students arrive not fully prepared to learn at their grade level (67% vs. 31% vs. 23%).
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of teachers in urban schools report that lack of parental support is a problem with at least a quarter of their students, compared to half of rural teachers (49%) and 41% of suburban teachers.
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of principals in urban schools see lack of parental support as a problem with at least a quarter of their students, compared to 40% of rural and 30% of suburban principals.
• Fewer teachers in urban schools than those in rural or suburban schools think that parent relations have improved recently (51% vs. 66% vs. 70%).
• Teachers in urban schools are more likely than their suburban counterparts to say that dropout rates are a problem in their district (63% vs. 32%).
• Lower numbers of urban than suburban teachers rate their students’ skills as "excellent or good" in major subject and skill areas, including reading (61% v. 81%), writing (55% vs. 68%), math (53% v. 76%), science (47% vs. 62%) and humanities (37% vs. 60%).

… some big challenges grow larger.

• Nearly twice the proportion of teachers today as in 1992 say that a lack of facility in English hinders learning for at least a quarter of their students (22% vs. 11%), and 30% of urban school teachers report that lack of facility in English is a problem for at least a quarter of their students.
• Today, half (49%) of teachers say that poverty hinders learning for at least a quarter of their students, compared to 41% in 1992.
• More teachers (43%) agree that their classes have become so mixed in terms of students’ learning abilities that they can’t teach them effectively, compared to 1988 (39%).

Today’s teachers …

… continue to be passionate about teaching.

• Eight in ten teachers (82%) agree strongly that they love to teach, a level similar to 1984.

… feel well supported.

• Most teachers (83%) agree that they have the guidance and support they need to be an effective teacher, including 45% of teachers who strongly agree.
• Eight in ten teachers (78%) and nine in ten principals (91%) report that professional development for teachers is excellent or good.
• Three-fourths (74%) of teachers report that their administration’s support for teachers is excellent or good, including more than a third (37%) who rate the support as excellent.

… put a high premium on experience.

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of teachers meet with a more experienced teacher to discuss teaching at least once a month.
• Teachers who have less experience meet with another teacher to discuss teaching at a higher frequency. Six in ten new teachers (59%) meet with another teacher on teaching at least once a week, compared to 42% of teachers with 6 to 20 years of experience, and 30% of teachers with years or more experience.
• Most principals are experienced teachers: 89% of those surveyed have served in the classroom for more than 5 years, and the average teaching experience among the principals is 14 years.

… often agree with principals, but differ substantially on some major issues.

• Eight in ten principals (81%) report that teachers in their school spend at least three-quarters of their classroom time with students on teaching, compared to 53% of teachers who report that level of time spent on teaching (as opposed to disciplining or administrative work).
• Most principals (96%) rate their school’s discipline policy as excellent or good, whereas 71% of teachers rate the discipline policy as excellent or good. This is the largest gap in perception between teachers and principals for this MetLife Survey.
• Many teachers (43%) agree that their classes have become so mixed in terms of students’ learning abilities that they can’t teach them effectively, compared to 24% of principals who agree. In the 2008 MetLife Survey, more secondary teachers (49%) agree with this statement than elementary teachers (40%).
• Principals’ estimate of the number of students in their school who come prepared to learn at their grade level is more positive than teachers’ reports. Six in ten principals (61%) report that less than a quarter or none of their students are not prepared, compared to 54% of teachers.
• Far more principals (79%) agree that standardized tests help teachers in their school to better track students’ performance than teachers agree (48%).
• More urban principals (83%) than urban teachers (65%) report that poverty is a problem hindering learning for at least a quarter of their students...