We are always interested in hearing about what’s important to teachers. So the Gates Foundation and Scholastic deserve major kudos for their new report out today. Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on America’s Schools collects the results of a survey of 40,000 American teachers and provides a useful snapshot of teacher opinion on a number of topics, including merit pay, teacher retention, and raising student achievement.
Gates and Scholastic say that the survey’s goal is to “plac[e] teachers’ voices at the center of the discourse around education reform.” The survey makes clear that teachers believe that curriculum – the content of what’s transmitted to students – needs to be at the center of that conversation.
From the report: “Regardless of their views on the single most likely reason for their students’ lack of preparedness, teachers are largely united in their views on the in-classroom resources necessary to sustain academic success. Nearly 9 in 10 teachers agree that a high-quality curriculum ensures academic success for their students (88%). Ninety-three percent agree that digital resources like classroom technology and Web-based programs help academic achievement, with a similar percentage (91%) agreeing that classroom magazines and books other than textbooks do the same.”
Teachers were equally certain of a content-rich curriculum’s role in retaining good teachers. “Access to a high-quality curriculum and teaching resources” was ranked as “absolutely essential” in retaining good teachers by 49% of survey respondents, “very important” by 41%, and “somewhat important” by 10%. When asked to choose only the top two most important factors for retaining good teachers, 26% of respondents chose “access to high-quality curriculum and teaching resources” as one of the top two, just below supportive leadership (52%), higher salaries (45%), and time for teachers to collaborate (28%), and ahead of professional development, work environment, and working conditions.
Disappointingly, the survey does not ask teachers about how test-based accountability affects their classroom practices or their management of time in the classroom. These are questions that deserves close scrutiny. The Gates report is a good start.
James Elias