Teachers are pessimistic about the direction of education in America. They are pessimistic about the state of the teaching profession. They are frequently interrupted by both technology issues and student discipline problems. And they are worried about AI in the present and in the future.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
These results come from a national survey of teachers conducted by EdChoice and Morning Consult at the beginning of April. Just over 1,000 American teachers were asked a battery of questions about education in general and teaching in particular.
They were not afraid to share their opinions.
Only 26 percent of teachers believe that education nationwide is on the right track. They are a bit more sanguine when it comes to education at the state level, where 36 percent think it is on the right track, and at the local level, where 47 percent think it is on the right track. None of these are majorities, however.
Teachers are more pessimistic than parents, 41 percent of whom think education is on the right track nationally, while 47 percent think education is on the right track at the state level and 55 percent think it is on the right track locally.
Looking at the teaching profession, opinion is underwater.
The survey asked teachers whether they would recommend teaching to a family member or friend. Looking at responses on a 0-10 scale, we can create a Net Promoter Score, a popular tool for market research, by subtracting the “detractors” — those who rate it 0-6 — from the “promoters,” those who rate it 9-10. At a minimum, market researchers would like to see more promoters than detractors, and hopefully many more.
This is not the case with teaching. For all teachers, only 22 percent were promoters and a whopping 51 percent were detractors. It is worse in public than private schools, with 18 percent promoters and 54 percent detractors among public school teachers. But even private school teaching sees more detractors than promoters, with 35 percent promoting and 38 percent detracting.
What might be driving these results? Findings this stark likely have many causes, but other questions in the survey can point us toward some explanations.
Classroom disruptions are a prime suspect. Teachers were asked how often their class was disrupted by technology issues and student misbehavior. Thirty percent of teachers said their class was interrupted by technology issues “extremely” or “very” frequently. Throw in the 32 percent who say technology issues disrupt class “somewhat” frequently, and you see a large number of frustrated teachers.
Student discipline is even worse. Thirty-five percent of teachers say their class is “extremely” or “very” frequently interrupted by student behavior issues, and another 31 percent say it happens “somewhat” frequently. If your classroom is getting interrupted that frequently, it shouldn’t be surprising if you are pessimistic about education and the teaching profession.
AI is another concern. Looking at the big picture, teachers are worried about the effects of AI on society. Fifty-one percent said they were “extremely” or “very” concerned about the effects of AI on society in the future. This is more pessimistic than the general population, only 41 percent of whom were “extremely” or “very” concerned, and more pessimistic than school parents, only 35 percent of whom were “extremely” or “very” concerned.
Teachers are similarly concerned about AI’s effect on student learning. Forty-two percent of teachers said they were “extremely” or “very” concerned about the effects of AI on student learning this school year. Another 33 percent were “somewhat” concerned, leaving only a tiny minority not concerned at all. Teachers believe it is important for schools to teach students critical thinking and reasoning skills to use AI appropriately, and believe schools need to seriously change for a world with AI. They don’t appear optimistic about how well schools are going to do that.
Teachers are a critical, foundational element of America’s democracy, society and economy. They are telling us they are unhappy. Perhaps the best thing we can do this Teacher Appreciation Week is to at least listen to them.
