The document summarizes a study that identified three distinct groups of teachers based on their attitudes about the teaching profession:
1) Disheartened teachers (40% of teachers) who are more likely to be disappointed in their jobs and give poor ratings to principals.
2) Idealists (23% of teachers) who became teachers to help disadvantaged students and believe good teachers can help all students learn.
3) Contented teachers (37% of teachers) who report excellent working conditions and believe their teaching has increased student test scores.
Trinity Kings World Leadership: Family Franchising Systems: Human Capital Man...Terrell Patillo
1 Peter 5:2-3Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
2 take care of the group of people you are responsible for. They are God’s flock.[a] Watch over that flock because you want to, not because you are forced to do it. That is how God wants it. Do it because you are happy to serve, not because you want money. 3 Don’t be like a ruler over those you are responsible for. But be good examples to them.
1 Corinthians 14:40Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
40 But everything should be done in a way that is right and orderly.
Train Hard, Teach Stronger: Effectively Training Paraprofessionals in Special...RethinkFirst
This session provides a go to strategy for effective paraprofessional training. Learn how school districts are utilizing video-based training and on-site coaching to increase the knowledge, skills, and interaction of paraprofessionals supporting students with autism and other disabilities.
A description of the Great Oakland Public Schools Effective Teaching Campaign. To get involved or learn more, reach out to Marc Tafolla at marc@gopublicschools.org.
Level of Influence of Parental Involvement on the Selected Tangub City Nation...Elton John Embodo
This study of mine determined the level of influence of parental involvement on the students to their studies. Assuming that the parents really influenced their children with regards to their studies, so it's focus is determine the level of influence.
This is unedited.. the grammar and the format still need to be checked by an expert.... weeks from now, I will be uploading the final version of my study,,the Edited one.
Trinity Kings World Leadership: Family Franchising Systems: Human Capital Man...Terrell Patillo
1 Peter 5:2-3Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
2 take care of the group of people you are responsible for. They are God’s flock.[a] Watch over that flock because you want to, not because you are forced to do it. That is how God wants it. Do it because you are happy to serve, not because you want money. 3 Don’t be like a ruler over those you are responsible for. But be good examples to them.
1 Corinthians 14:40Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
40 But everything should be done in a way that is right and orderly.
Train Hard, Teach Stronger: Effectively Training Paraprofessionals in Special...RethinkFirst
This session provides a go to strategy for effective paraprofessional training. Learn how school districts are utilizing video-based training and on-site coaching to increase the knowledge, skills, and interaction of paraprofessionals supporting students with autism and other disabilities.
A description of the Great Oakland Public Schools Effective Teaching Campaign. To get involved or learn more, reach out to Marc Tafolla at marc@gopublicschools.org.
Level of Influence of Parental Involvement on the Selected Tangub City Nation...Elton John Embodo
This study of mine determined the level of influence of parental involvement on the students to their studies. Assuming that the parents really influenced their children with regards to their studies, so it's focus is determine the level of influence.
This is unedited.. the grammar and the format still need to be checked by an expert.... weeks from now, I will be uploading the final version of my study,,the Edited one.
Teaching Competencies of Elementary Teachers in Northern Samar Basis for Acti...YogeshIJTSRD
In this research, the teaching competencies of elementary school teachers in the Northern Samar based on the National Competency Based Teacher Standards NCBTS . The competencies given by the NCBTS are social regard for learning, learning environment, diversity of learners, curriculum, planning, assessing, and reporting, community linkages, and personal growth and professional development. Findings showed that the school heads rated the teachers to have high competency in personal growth and professional development. They have reflected on the extent of the attainment of professional development goals. The competency of teachers on the curriculum aspect was evaluated by school heads to be satisfactory, different than the high competency evaluation of teachers themselves. The researcher proposed an action plan that may assist the teachers to sustain and enhance their strengths and make their weaknesses become their strengths. Argie L. TY | Felisa L. Sanico "Teaching Competencies of Elementary Teachers in Northern Samar: Basis for Action Plan Development" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-3 , April 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd38688.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/education/38688/teaching-competencies-of-elementary-teachers-in-northern-samar-basis-for-action-plan-development/argie-l-ty
Teacher Leadership Vision StatementDear (Tina),In order t.docxmattinsonjanel
Teacher Leadership Vision Statement
Dear (Tina),
In order to further develop a community, much more a learning environment for children, one must be able to go beyond the ordinary. Teachers are made not only to teach but to lead as well. To make these teachers effective leaders, we ask the support of our colleagues, the school administration, our students and their parents, and most importantly, our stakeholders. On our end, we will do our best to maximize all our resources and services and capitalize on our strengths and assets in order to fulfill our roles as teachers, as well as to deliver to the school administration as well as to our dear stakeholders. You, as a stakeholder, have been identified as a credible partner of our organization in enriching children’s lives and furthering young skills and talents. As a stakeholder, we value your input in improving our services since the success of this process depends on your involvement at that of our other stakeholders’. As a partner working towards the betterment of our institution, together we must achieve the following:
· An enriching environment for learners to nurture their skills and further their development.
· A community of teachers and learners working towards one goal and reaching it through productive and plausible means.
· To lead with pride and purpose in order to encompass all forms of student development and improve student learning.
· A community where equality is valued; where one’s opportunities are not determined by his/her social status in life nor his/her physical condition.
· A community where one’s skills and talented can be nurtured and maximized to its full potential. I aim to discredit the notion that a student’s success is driven by his/her background, I want to be able to change that and support everyone regardless of his/her social background and status in life. One’s success should depend on the student’s willingness to learn and hone his/her skills, on the student’s determination to get the job done as excellently as possible, and on the student’s overall performance.
· A learning community where excellent ideas and strategies are exchanged between students and teachers, where problems are being solved collaboratively through consultations with expert colleagues.
· To inculcate values of optimism, collaboration, and innovation in our daily activities and work ethic to better inspire colleagues and students to work just the same.
· An education system where collaboration and freedom of professional inquiry are promoted; this will not all be of help to the students but to my colleagues as well.
· Lastly, I envision a life-giving learning community rooted in our core values of passion, equality, and determination guided by the mission to bring out each child’s potential.
All of these will be made possible if accompanied by unyielding support and active participation from the school administration, fellow teachers, students, as well as their parents. It is m ...
1Running Head DATA GATHERINGS AND INTERVIEWS11DATA GATHER.docxdrennanmicah
1
Running Head: DATA GATHERINGS AND INTERVIEWS
11
DATA GATHERINGS AND INTERVIEWS
Data Gathering and Interviews
Introduction
School improvement has important on schools, which are low-performing schools where the whole school should be turned toward another path. There are changes of ways and that a school can do with school improvement. Instructors, administrators, and parents are to set objectives to assist the school with improving each year on an institutionalize test and other test to contrast them and others school presentations. With the No Child Left behind Act in 2002 it expects leaders to take a gander at each child as people and as gatherings and not exactly at the aggregate school, making the act of ceaseless improvement for all students. Be that as it may, this Act has change and called Every Student Succeeds Act, it enable schools for more important adaptability to decide best interventions and improvement activities. For school improvement, information should be gathered to distinguish shortcoming and the qualities of a specific school. Instructors, staff, administrators and parents are partners they thought of a school improvement intend to upgrade student accomplishment in the classroom and to prepare instructional procedures for persuasive getting ready for school improvement.
School Reform
For a long time training, leaders have been pushing onto school regions school changes that don't hint at any working while at the same time giving short shrift to those that have a reputation of working. In the classroom there are such a large number of weaknesses and basic leadership that can be considered to improve student accomplishment and to help school improvement. School change or school upgrades results should be changed. Among a meeting with the standard of WASC team, they expressed that school improvement or school change is followed up on the coordinated effort on administrators, teachers, parents and students. Specialist assumes a critical job in the school. There are a few schools with various socioeconomics that can influence different results. Schools that demonstrated achievement grasps fundamental help and these backings are:
•
Leadership-Everyone in the school is a leader. An educator is the leader in the classroom. Parents are leaders at home and administrators are the leaders of an explicit school. Guideline sorted out their staffs and their locale resources in help of student learning. Whatever the guideline needs the school pursues, here and there initiative can be a reason for miscommunication, and they will simply accumulate information from educators and guardians yet they do not want to do with that information.
•
Improved people group ties the standard and school staff examines out and made school additionally inviting for parents and made connects to other network establishments. In an instruction framework the mission of the school isn't just done in the classrooms and the school itself. They need to als.
The Implications of StandardsPlease respond to the following.docxlaurieellan
"The Implications of Standards"
Please respond to the following:
Evaluate the purpose of student performance standards and developmental standards. Propose how each performance standard can be strengthened to assist student learning.
Evaluate the efficacy of the standards-based movement and examine how it has affected schools in general. Support your position by providing two examples from personal experience.
Peer Post
Expectations for instruction, assessment, and student work are called Performance Standards. These incorporate the content standards and they define the level of work that demonstrates achievement of the standards. Performance standards isolate and identify the skills needed to use the knowledge and skills in problem-solving, reasoning, communicating, and making connections with other information (Schlechty, 2009).Developmental standards are standards that teachers feel are important. These standards parents understand and can help enforce at home. The standard's goal is to ensure students have the basic knowledge and work habit to pursue different task. For instance, a student being able to read well enough to comprehend the material given (Schlechty, 2009). My suggestion would be to gear all performance standards towards improving student’s performance. Some standards need to be reformed to fit the needs of the ever-changing curriculum and student abilities. Teamwork is the key to transforming issues in performance standards. For instance, a teacher not being able to reach one student should collaborate with another grade level teacher for some suggestions for strategies.
The standards-based movement has affected the way educators present a specific objective. Teachers are expected to teach according to standards and students are expected to learn these standards. For instance, a standards-based test is an assessment based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. Evaluation is a key part of the standards-based movement. The first part is to set new, higher standards to be expected of every student. Then the curriculum must be aligned with the new standards. This has transformed the school in a negative direction. Teachers have limited flexibility to teach, and schools are more about passing end of year test rather than learning the necessary material needed. For example, standards are so important now that some items have been eliminated from the curriculum such as cursive writing. Evaluations have become the norm of the school curriculum. Its day 23 in the 2018-19 school year for my daughter, she has complained yesterday how she took a test in each subject. Which left me a little confused what could she have mastered in 22 days to receive an assessment in all subjects in 5th grade? A standard-based movement has eliminated real learning in schools.
Schlechty, P.C. (2009).
Leading for learning: How to transform schools into learning organizations
. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
...
Chapte 1
Overview
Since the publication of the Reagan e a education epo t, A Nation at Risk, the United
States has focused attention on education efo m (United States, 1983). This epo t used
compelling language to desc ibe Ame ica’s schools as la gely inadequate and unable to meet
global demands on education, the eby leaving Ame ica’s futu e in jeopa dy. Since that time
school leade s have emb aced va ious education efo m movements such as No Child Left Behind
and Eve y Student Succeeds Act (No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002, Eve y Student Succeeds
Act [ESSA], 2008). Each with thei own measu es of standa dized testing, academic achievement,
and school pe fo mance. Pe haps ove looked is the impo tance of school climate in the ove all
school imp ovement p ocess. Cleveland and Sink (2018) p omote the notion that student
pe spectives on school climate should be included in school imp ovement plans. Othe esea ches
such as Zahid (2014), suggest school climate to be the numbe one conside ation fo student
academic achievement.
Dutta & Sahney (2016) esea ched the elationship between school climate and student
achievement and suggested a positive co elation. School p incipals a e the leade s of thei
building, shaping a compelling vision fo the futu e while p omoting safety, academic
achievement, and a positive climate. Depending on the schools' size, the p incipal's job desc iption
may include cu iculum, discipline, community elations, and fiscal esponsibilities. P incipals a e
equi ed to balance the expectations of state, community, and dist ict leade s to p oduce the highest
possible standa dized testing, pe sonnel, and school climate esults. These esponsibilities make
them one of the most influential school imp ovement figu es.
Background and problem statement
Dr. Jaocb Bryant
Approaches Expectations
Leade ship p actices utilized by p incipals a e vital to the quality of thei job pe fo mance.
The influence of a p incipal extends to the pe ception of all inte nal and exte nal stakeholde s.
With inc easing esea ch to suggest positive school climates could be an influential component of
school imp ovement, p incipals should conside the extent to which inte nal stakeholde s such as
the teaching faculty pe ceive thei influence ove school climate. The extent to which p incipals
can influence school climate in A kansas’ schools is unknown.
Purpose of the study
The pu pose of this quantitative co elational esea ch was to investigate if and to what
extent p incipal leade ship p actices co elate with school climate as pe ceived by teache s in the in
u al and subu ban schools in A kansas. This study investigated the biva iate co elation between
the teache s' pe ception of the school p incipal's leade ship p actices and the co esponding
school's climate sco es. Twenty-fou schools a e included in the sample size f om six geog aphic
egions ...
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
A review of the growth of the Israel Genealogy Research Association Database Collection for the last 12 months. Our collection is now passed the 3 million mark and still growing. See which archives have contributed the most. See the different types of records we have, and which years have had records added. You can also see what we have for the future.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
This slide is special for master students (MIBS & MIFB) in UUM. Also useful for readers who are interested in the topic of contemporary Islamic banking.
Executive Directors Chat Leveraging AI for Diversity, Equity, and InclusionTechSoup
Let’s explore the intersection of technology and equity in the final session of our DEI series. Discover how AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be used to support and enhance your nonprofit's DEI initiatives. Participants will gain insights into practical AI applications and get tips for leveraging technology to advance their DEI goals.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Thesis Statement for students diagnonsed withADHD.ppt
Retaining Teacher Talent: Teaching for a Living
1. OCTOBER 21, 2009 ■ EDUCATION WEEK 21
I N PER SPECT I V E
www.edweek.org/go/perspective
State
of Mind
America’s teaching 23%
corps is made up
of three groups
with distinct attitudes
40% Idealists
about their profession,
Disheartened
which has implications
for policymakers.
By Andrew L. Yarrow
37%
T Contented
wo out of five of America’s 4 million K-12 teachers
appear disheartened and disappointed about their jobs,
while others express a variety of reasons for contentment
with teaching and their current school environments, new
research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates shows.
The nationwide study, “Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Pro-
fession Today,” whose results are being reported here for the first time, offers
a comprehensive and nuanced look at how teachers differ in their perspectives on
their profession, why they entered teaching, the atmosphere and leadership in their te s
cia
so
As
schools, the problems they face, their students and student outcomes, and ideas for reform. oin
t
gP
Taking a closer look at the nation’s teacher corps based on educators’ attitudes and motivations a rnin
n d Le
da a
for teaching could provide some notable implications for how to identify, retain, and support the blic Agen
TS: Pu
most effective teachers, according to the researchers. SOU RCE FOR CHAR
This portrait of American teachers, completed by the beginning of the 2009-10 school year,
presents a new means for appraising the state of the profession at a time when school re- GROUP CHARACTERISTICS
form, approaches to teaching, and student achievement remain high on the nation’s agenda. DISHEARTENED teachers are more likely to:
It also comes as billions of economic-stimulus dollars pour into America’s schools, in part to - give their principals poor ratings for supporting
ensure that effective teachers are distributed among all schools, and as Congress prepares to them as teachers
consider reauthorization or modification of the No Child Left Behind Act, the nearly 8-year- - express concerns about working conditions,
old—and latest—version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. student behavior, and testing
The study was based on a nationwide survey, with more than 100 questions, of nearly 900
teachers. It was jointly conducted by Public Agenda, a New York City-based nonprofit, non-
IDEALIST teachers are more likely to:
- say they became teachers to help disadvantaged students
partisan research and public-engagement organization, and Learning Point Associates, a non-
- believe their students’ test scores have increased a lot
profit education research and consulting organization based in Naperville, Ill., that provides because of their teaching
direct professional services at the federal, state, and local levels. The work was underwritten - say that good teachers can lead all students to learn, even those from
by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. (Both foundations also poor families or who have uninvolved parents
provide funding to Editorial Projects in Education, the publisher of and Education Week.)
CONTENTED teachers are more likely to:
Varying Sensibilities - report excellent working conditions
- be experienced in their profession
Researchers at Public Agenda conducted a cluster analysis of the survey results, revealing - work in middle- or higher-income schools
three distinct groups of teachers. Based on their individual characteristics and attitudes about - believe their students’ test scores have increased a lot
the profession, teachers naturally fell into three broad categories, which the researchers call the because of their teaching
2. 22 EDUCATION WEEK ■ OCTOBER 21, 2009
TEACHING FOR A LIVING:
How Teachers See 98%
The Profession Today
Is based on a nationally representative survey of 890 teachers. Data were collected by
phone and online between April 16 and June 22, 2009. The margin of error is plus or
minus 4.4 percent. For this research, Public Agenda also conducted a cluster analysis,
87%
examining the data in terms of how teachers grouped naturally based both on attitudes
and demographics.
For more details about the research methodology, visit PublicAgenda.org. Research
and analysis were conducted by Jean Johnson, Jon Rochkind, and Amber Ott of Public
Agenda.
This report is being published jointly by Public Agenda, Learning Point Associates,
and Education Week.
A link to the report is provided at edweek.org/links.
52%
48%
AGE
DIFFERENCES
32 and
younger
13%
33 and older
* Because of rounding, add
these numbers do not 1%
up to 100 percent.
IDEALISTS CONTENTED* DISHEARTENED
DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE
The percent of teachers who strongly agree that all their students, with the right support,
can go to college varies among the groups
54 30 39 IDEALISTS
%
CONTENTED
%
DISHEARTENED
%
3. OCTOBER 21, 2009 ■ EDUCATION WEEK 23
“Disheartened,” “Contented,” and “Idealists.” give their principals “excellent” ratings when it comes
The view that teaching is “so demanding, it’s a won- to supporting them as teachers. HOW TEACHERS RATE
der that more people don’t burn out” is remarkably Perceived lack of administrator support, discipline
pervasive, particularly among the Disheartened, who problems, class size, low pay, and lack of prestige THEIR PROFESSSION
are twice as likely as other teachers to agree strongly loomed as much larger negatives for the Disheart-
with that view. Members of that group, which accounts ened. Student-behavior problems were seen as major
for 40 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States, drawbacks to teaching for nearly three-fourths of the IDEALISTS
tend to have been teaching longer and be older than Disheartened compared with one-fourth of the Ideal-
the Idealists. More than half teach in low-income ists and two in five of the Contented, although student CONTENTED
schools. They are more likely to voice high levels of discipline clearly was an issue that concerned many
frustration about the school administration, disorder teachers. Low salaries and “little prestige” were not top DISHEARTENED
in the classroom, and an undue focus on testing. Only issues, but the Disheartened were much more likely
14 percent rated their principals as “excellent” at sup- to mention both as major drawbacks to teaching. For
porting them as teachers, and 61 percent cited lack of example, 53 percent cited low pay, compared with 26
support from administrators as a major drawback to
teaching. Nearly three-quarters cited “discipline and
behavior issues” in the classroom, and seven in 10
percent of the Contented and 31 percent of the Ideal-
ists.
Beliefs about their students and student potential
93% 95%
cited testing as major drawbacks as well. also differed notably, with conceivably significant
By contrast, the vast majority of teachers in the Con- implications for efforts to reshape the profession. A
tented group (37 percent of teachers overall) viewed 22-percentage-point difference separated the Idealists
teaching as a lifelong career. Most said their schools and the Disheartened (88 percent to 66 percent) in
are “orderly, safe, and respectful,” and are satisfied their faith that good teachers can make a difference in
with their administrators. Sixty-three percent strongly
agreed that “teaching is exactly what I wanted to do,”
student learning. Idealists strongly believe that teach-
ers shape student effort (75 percent), whereas just 50 41%
and roughly three-fourths feel that they have sufficient percent of the Disheartened believe that. Only one-
time to craft good lesson plans. Those teachers tend to third of the more disillusioned teachers were very con- Give “good” or
be veterans—94 percent have been in the classroom for fident in their students’ learning abilities, compared “excellent” ratings
more than 10 years, a majority have graduate degrees, with nearly half among the other groups (48 percent of to their principals
and about two-thirds are teaching in middle-income or the Contented and 45 percent of the Idealists). for supporting them
affluent schools. Those feelings about teaching, schools, and students as teachers
However, it is the Idealists—23 percent of teachers influenced perceptions of what steps would be most
overall—who voiced the strongest sense of mission helpful in improving teacher effectiveness. The Dis-
about teaching. Nearly nine in 10 Idealists believe heartened were more likely to mention higher pay (56
that “good teachers can lead all students to learn, percent, compared with 47 percent of Idealists and 44
even those from poor families or who have uninvolved percent of the Contented) and removing students with
parents.” Idealists overwhelmingly said that helping severe behavior problems from the classroom (76 per-
underprivileged children improve their prospects mo- cent of the Disheartened, compared with 55 percent of 76%
tivated them to enter the profession. Forty-two percent
said it was “one of the most important” factors in their
Idealists and 67 percent of the Contented). The Dis-
heartened (70 percent) and the Idealists (69 percent)
68%
decision, and another 36 percent said it was a “major” were more likely than the Contented (60 percent) to
factor. In addition, 54 percent strongly agreed that all mention smaller class sizes as a very effective way of
their students, “given the right support, can go to col- improving teaching.
lege,” the highest percentage among any group. More
than half are 32 or younger and teach in elementary
schools, and 36 percent said that even though they in-
Policy Implications 28% Rate their schools
as “very good” when
tend to stay in education, they plan to leave classroom The characteristics and specific views of each group it comes to having
teaching for other jobs in the field. raise important questions for the field. Are the Ide- an orderly, safe,
Although the researchers caution that the teach- alists the best prospects for high-needs schools and and respectful school
ers’ idealism does not necessarily guarantee that they for reinvigorating the profession, and what do school atmosphere
are more effective teachers than their colleagues, half leaders need to do to retain them in the field? Given
the Idealists believe their students’ test scores have the Idealists’ passion for improving their students’
increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a lives, how can administrators ensure that they have
higher percentage than the other teachers in the sur- the skills and support to fulfill that goal? More than
vey. a third of Idealists voiced a desire to move eventu-
ally into other jobs in education. How does the field
Making a Difference respond to those aspirations? The Disheartened pose
a different challenge. Some may be ill-fitted to the job 73%
At a time of intensifying pressure on teachers to pro- and ready to move on, but how should the field en-
duce results and meet a widening range of social and courage and support their transition? Others may be
economic needs, why do teachers say they go into the good teachers trapped in dysfunctional schools and, in
profession? According to the “Teaching for a Living” the right environment, might change their views and
analysis, the differences among the three groups are
highly significant. For example, “putting underprivi-
become Idealists. While those teachers may be helping
their students despite the teachers’ bleak outlook, the
37% 35%
leged kids on the path to success” is one of the most researchers point out that it would be hard to believe
Agree “strongly”
important reasons that led Idealists to enter the pro- that those Disheartened teachers are as effective as that teaching is so
fession, but only 16 percent of the Contented cited it. they could be given their own reports about their situ- demanding, it’s a
As a Denver 5th grade teacher interviewed for the ation. wonder more people
project said: “Good teachers don’t join for the money Jean Johnson, the executive vice president of Pub- dont’t burn out
or bonuses. They join because they want to make a dif- lic Agenda and the director of its Education Insights
ference.” division, notes that an earlier study with superinten-
A considerable degree of bitterness characterized the dents and principals showed that administrators can
Disheartened in comparison to the other groups: Twice fall into two categories: “Copers,” whose main focus
as many spoke of likely burnout as did the Contented is successfully completing the work of each day, and
and Idealists. Only two-fifths strongly agreed that
“there is nothing I’d rather be doing” than teaching,
compared with nearly two-thirds of the Contented and
“Transformers,” who aim to change the schools they
manage.
“One key question from this study is the degree to
75%
nearly half the Idealists. which the most idealistic teachers could be Transform- 59%
According to the survey, student-behavior problems
and a lack of a supportive administration are major is-
ers, effectively helping struggling students become
eager and accomplished learners,” Ms. Johnson said.
50%
sues feeding discontent among teachers, alongside the “Then there are questions about the Disheartened
perception of low pay. The groups differ considerably teachers, who generally fall into the coping category.
on working conditions and support from principals and Could good school leadership and better support re-
other administrators. The Contented were more than energize them,” she said, “or would it be better for Believe student effort
twice as likely as the Disheartened (76 percent vs. 28 some portion of them and their students if they found is mainly determined
percent) to say that their schools are orderly and safe, another line of work?” ■
by what teachers do
and that teachers, administrators, and students re-
spect each other. Likewise, the Contented and the Ide- Andrew L. Yarrow is a vice president of Public Agenda
to motivate them
alists were four times as likely as the Disheartened to and the director of its Washington office.