Waiting To Be Won Over

Waiting To Be Won Over: Teachers Speak on the Profession, Unions, and Reform
25 Pages

While the research and policy perspectives are certainly important aspects of educational reform, hearing from educators themselves is a vital component to determining how we produce better outcomes for all students. Waiting to Be Won Over by Education Sector and the FDR group reports survey data from 1,010 K-12 public school teachers who respond questions about the teaching profession, teachers unions, and reforms aimed at improving teacher quality.

The report is broken into four sections:
1. The challenges teachers see in their profession, including weak evaluation processes and rigid tenure and pay system
2. Teachers' opinions on a range of reforms aimed at improving the teaching profession including new forms of evaluation and pay for performance
3. Teachers' opinions about their union and what they feel the union role should be in improving teacher quality
4. Key points of comparison between new and veteran teachers

Some key findings are:

Only twenty-six percent of teachers say their most recent formal evaluation was useful and effective in helping them to improve their teaching. Seventy-nine percent support strengthening the formal evaluation of probationary teachers. And nearly a third of teachers say that tenured teachers should be evaluated on an annual basis.

Eighty six percent of teachers feel that they are required to do too much paperwork and documentation about what goes on in their classroom. Sixty-eight percent of teachers feel that school would be better for students if principals and teachers had more flexibility about work rules and school duties

Eighty percent of teachers support giving financial incentives to teachers who work in tough neighborhoods with low performing schools.

Teachers are less likely than in 2003 to support paying teachers based on student test scores. Almost half (49%) say it's an excellent or good (34%) idea to measure teacher effectiveness based on student growth. However, fifty-eight percent of teachers favor giving financial incentives to teachers who consistently receive outstanding evaluations by their principals.

Teachers are more likely than in 2003 to say unions are essential.

To read the report in full, click on the following link:

http://cstp.c.topica.com/maalOIIabHNPmbnlaALb/