What teachers want

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The largest-ever survey of American teachers was released on March 3 by the Gates Foundation and the Scholastic publishing company. Forty thousand teachers answered questions on how to fix schools and what they need to do a better job.

"There were some really big issues that people tend to view teachers as being divided on, and [the survey results] really show that we have a consensus opinion," said Cate Dossetti, who teaches English in a High School in Fresno, CA.

One area of consensus for teachers, according to Dossetti, is the need for rigorous, relevant curriculum and common standards for students.

Dossetti was one of the teachers selected to give a final read to the survey before it was released.

Jane Hannaway, the director of the Education Policy Center at the Urban Institute, who read the survey, was encouraged by some of the solutions offered by teachers.

"One thing that I found interesting, surprising, and hopeful, is the extent to which teachers were putting a high value on getting feedback, getting information — called formative assessment — about how well their students were doing," said Hannaway.

"Education is one of the few industries in the country in which we haven't seen the returns from technology and the returns from data. And now it is moving into an information age and teachers are finding it very useful to be getting this continuous feedback on how their students are doing in order to guide their instructions."

Andrew Parsons, who teaches kindergarten in a charter school in Brooklyn, says it's important for teachers to have access to information and share knowledge, but they often don't get the support to do so.

"In the survey — the results of which, as a teacher, I see is really dead-on — the support of leadership and innovation is really key," Parsons said.  

He argues that the professional development training currently offered to teachers isn't enough.

"You can give an hour professional development on how to give a standardized test, which is a reality in education and important to know how to do … but you need more than just that. You need to be able to understand the fact that there are different measures beyond the standardized test."

The survey findings debunk several commonly held myths about teachers' views. The survey found that:

– While higher salaries are important, teachers say they are less important than a supportive leader. Fewer than half of teachers (45%) say higher salaries are absolutely essential for retaining good teachers. More teachers say it is absolutely essential to have supportive leadership (68%), time to collaborate (54%), and quality curriculum (49%).

– Teachers aren't opposed to standardized tests as one way to measure student performance. More than 80 percent of teachers say district-required tests are at least a somewhat important measure of student performance (84%). Overall, teachers value multiple measures, including formative assessments, performance on class assignments and class participation along with standardized tests.

– Tenure doesn't make a good teacher. Only 10 percent of teachers say that tenure is a very accurate measure of teacher performance while 42 percent say it is not at all accurate. Student engagement and year over year progress of students are by far viewed as the most accurate indicators of teacher performance measures (60% and 55%, respectively, rate as very accurate) but are not frequently used to evaluate teachers.

-Textbooks aren't the answer. Only 12 percent of teachers say traditional textbooks help improve student academic achievement and a mere 6 percent say textbooks engage students in learning. Teachers overwhelmingly say (81%) that up-to-date information-based technology is very important or absolutely essential to improve student achievement.

– A teacher's job doesn’t end at 3 p.m. Seven in ten teachers attend their students' after school and weekend events. More than half (51%) of elementary school teachers are willing to have parent teacher conferences at students' homes — indicating their understanding of time-strapped parents and their belief in the importance of helping every child have a strong home-school connection.

See more of the survey here.