Educators for Excellence Releases Nationwide Survey of Teachers on Education Issues

Aug. 1 (Boston) — Educators for Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, released results today from Voices from the Classroom: A Survey of America’s Educators, a ground-breaking national survey of our country’s public school educators, with an oversample of Boston teachers to enable city-level analysis.
 
Designed by teachers, for teachers, the scientific, nationally representative survey captures crucial insight on the views of public school educators across the country on a wide variety of issues impacting students and the profession, including: economic security, teacher leadership, teacher voice beyond the classroom, school safety and discipline, accountability and school choice. 
 
The survey revealed that Boston teachers, similar to teachers nationwide, believe inequitable school funding (82 percent) and resource distribution (83 percent) are problems in Massachusetts. Results also show local educators are more supportive of school choice options than the national average, as long as they do not drain resources from public schools. 
 
Additionally, 73 percent of Boston teachers oppose the idea of carrying a gun in school as a way to improve school safety, which is eight percentage points higher than the national average. 
 
In line with E4E’s mission, 99 percent of Boston teachers agreed that they wish there were more opportunities as teachers to influence education policy that impacts their profession and students.
 
See details on key findings below. 
 
“We are on the front lines of education and understand how policies impact the day-to-day lives of us and our students,” said Daniel Pugliese, high school science teacher at City on a Hill Charter Public School: Dudley Square and member of E4E-Boston. “We have the practical knowledge about how students learn and what makes a welcoming classroom. It’s only right that we share that knowledge with the world.”
 
“Far too often, laws and policies that impact students miss the mark because educators are not included in the decision-making process,” said Brandy Fluker-Oakley, Executive Director of E4E-Boston. “Insights and recommendations from the report come directly from hardworking teachers who shape students’ futures each and every day. The data should be considered by any policymaker concerned about improving outcomes for all Boston students.”
 
Key Findings:

• Teachers are concerned about school safety and want more training to address school violence and improve student behavior using non-punitive strategies.
  • One-third of Boston teachers (32 percent) report fearing for their own physical safety at least sometimes or often at their school, on par with the national average of 31 percent.
  • Almost three-quarters of Boston teachers (72 percent) believe their school does an excellent or good job at training them to address school violence, compared to 54 percent nationally.
  • To manage discipline and make schools safer, Boston teachers believe positive behavior reinforcement (71 percent) and restorative practices (69 percent) as most effective, greatly preferring them to punitive and exclusionary measures, such as out-of school suspensions (40 percent) and expulsions (39 percent).
    • Similarly, nationally, teachers see positive behavior reinforcement (74 percent) and restorative practices (64 percent) most effective, preferring them to out-of school suspensions (39 percent) and expulsions (39 percent).
  • While the National Rifle Association and President Trump have proposed training teachers to carry guns in schools as a way of making schools more secure, 73 percent of Boston teachers oppose this idea, as do 65 percent of teachers nationally. 
• Teachers are open to school choice options, as long as they do not drain resources from public schools, are equally accessible to all students and provide positive outcomes for low-income students.
  • Boston teachers are more supportive of school choice options than the national average: 
    • 62 percent Boston teachers and 48 percent of teachers nationally support school tax credits for low-income students.
    • 48 percent Boston teachers and 28 percent of teachers nationally support low-income school vouchers.
    • 39 percent Boston teachers and 21 percent of teachers nationally support universal school vouchers.
    • 34 percent of Boston teachers and 31 percent of teachers nationally support charter schools
  • A majority of Boston teachers and all public school teachers support school choice as long as it:
    • Is equally accessible to all students: 66 percent Boston, 64 percent national
    • Doesn’t shift funds from public schools: 60 percent Boston, 64 percent national
    • Increases academic achievement for low-income students: 50 percent Boston, 51 percent national
    • Doesn’t discriminate against students: 47 percent Boston, 58 percent national
  • And, only eight percent of Boston teachers and six percent of teachers nationally are opposed to school choice in any form.
• Teachers are very concerned about their economic security, so wages, salaries, benefits and job security are often top of mind.
  • In Boston, teachers believe financial incentives, such as sign-on bonuses, higher starting salaries and loan forgiveness programs, are effective, however, creating opportunities for advancement are even more important to them:
    • Additional pathways for school aides and paraprofessionals to become teachers (41 percent Boston, 28 percent national)
    • Leadership pathways that allow teachers to increase impact and salary (38 percent Boston, 34 percent national)
    • Financial incentives in hard-to-staff schools (36 percent Boston, 48 percent national)
    • Financial incentives in hard-to-staff subjects (28 percent Boston, 46 percent national)
  • Boston teachers have more faith in the traditional pension system than teachers nationally, with 67 percent preferring a pension and 31 percent preferring a defined contribution plan, such as a 401-k or 403-b.
    • Nationally, as many teachers say they would prefer a defined contribution plan (42 percent) as they would a pension (45 percent).
  • A substantial majority of Boston teachers believe inequitable school funding (82 percent) and resource distribution (83 percent) are problems in their state, compared to 84 percent and 81 percent nationally.
• Teachers are seeking more opportunities to lead while staying in the classroom, particularly as they relate to career pathways.
  • A staggering 99 percent of Boston teachers and 92 percent of teachers nationally say they wish there were more opportunities to further their careers and professional skills while staying in the classroom.
  • Despite this widespread desire, only 37 percent of Boston teachers indicate that they feel supported by their administration to take on leadership roles in their schools, two percentage points higher than the national average. 
• Teachers want more opportunity to be heard beyond their classroom and within their unions in order to shape policy at all levels.
  • Ninety-nine percent of Boston teachers and 96 percent of teachers nationally agreed that they wish there were more opportunities as teachers to influence education policy that impacts their profession and students.
  • Unfortunately, teachers do not feel their perspective is well represented in policy decisions at the school, union, district or charter network, state or federal levels. The further teachers are from the decision-making body, the less represented they feel, with just three percent of Boston teachers saying they see their perspective greatly represented in policy at the state level. 
• Teachers believe student growth is the single most important factor in evaluating schools’ and teachers’ effectiveness, but are also interested in exploring non-traditional metrics.
  • To evaluate a school’s effectiveness, teachers prefer students’ academic growth (78 percent Boston, 74 national), but Boston teachers are open to including feedback from parents (43 percent Boston, 25 percent national), feedback from students (34 percent Boston, 30 percent national) and students’ standardized test scores (34 percent Boston, 17 percent national).
  • In evaluations of their own effectiveness, in addition to students’ academic growth (64 percent Boston, 64 percent national), teachers value students’ daily work, projects and portfolios (41 percent Boston, 45 percent national), classroom observation by teachers (41 percent Boston, 34 percent national) and leadership in the school community (36 percent Boston, 30 percent national). 

The full report provides details on each of these trends and includes an analysis of the responses from three groups of teachers because of their unique perspectives: early career educators, teachers in underserved communities and teachers of color.
 
To download the complete report, visit e4e.org/teachersurvey. 
 
Survey Methodology: 
The survey was conducted online from April 14-May 6, 2018, among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 full-time traditional public school and public charter school teachers and an additional sample of 50 Boston teachers. The survey questionnaire was developed in consultation with E4E member teachers from across the U.S. The survey instrument was written and administered by Gotham Research Group, an independent, New York-based research firm.