As the public education sector grapples with a post-pandemic society and a “return to normal,” the question must be asked: Will our education system evolve along with the rest of the world, or maintain an unequal and inequitable status quo? What will teaching and learning look like in the next year – or in five – and how different will students’ experiences be from today?
Voices from the Classroom 2024 explores whether teachers see promise on the horizon, or see us missing a moment worth capitalizing on. It asks how schools can keep pace with a rapidly changing world, rather than preparing students for a quickly dissipating past. The teachers surveyed in the report tell us loud and clear: We must immediately reimagine the teaching profession by building the infrastructure and resources teachers need–and are asking for–to advance high-quality instruction and learning.
This Teacher Appreciation Month, we ask that readers of this report amplify its findings to ensure the sweeping change teachers have long been promised is delivered, and to rally against a return to the normal that was never good enough.
Major Trends and Findings
THEME 1. Teachers continue to believe that their students are struggling: 70% report that their students are behind academically and 64% report that their mental well-being is worse compared to pre-pandemic.
THEME 2. Teachers’ outlook on the profession remains at an all-time low, following a precipitous drop during the pandemic: just 16% of teachers indicate they’d recommend the profession to others.
THEME 3. Though many teachers of color continue to report low levels of job satisfaction, their morale and outlook have improved significantly over the past few years, highlighting a stark divergence with the general population of teachers.
THEME 4. Teachers are calling for more collaborative and dynamic work environments, showing interest in strategic staffing approaches that break from traditional school models.
THEME 5. While still positive, teachers’ satisfaction with their unions’ efforts to address “bread and butter” issues like salaries and improved working conditions is diminishing, and satisfaction with efforts to transform the profession remains low.
THEME 6. While districts across the country have adopted curricular materials aligned with the science of reading, teachers indicate that to truly shift literacy instructional practices, better support and training are needed.
THEME 7. Teachers express a mix of curiosity and hesitancy about the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, indicating a need for more training on the topic, while teachers of color specifically are already embracing its use and are eager to learn more.
Tell Your Elected Leaders: Reimagine Education By Listening To Teachers
Tell US Legislators: Invest in Research That Fosters Classroom Innovation
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Methodology
The Voices from the Classroom 2024 survey questionnaire was developed by 18 Educators for Excellence teacher members from across the United States. The instrument was written and administered by Penta Group Intelligence, an independent research firm, and conducted online from January 2 through February 16, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 full-time public-school teachers. Note that all survey results are presented as percentages and, due to rounding, may not always add up to 100 percent.
Previous Survey Results
Click here to check out the Voices from the Classroom 2023 survey results.