Roy Exum
Back long ago when I was a kid, there was this magazine called Scholastic that would come to the house and all of us children were encouraged to share it and order any books we would like to read. We hardly watched TV since it was so new and a love for reading came early for all of us. We were taught to read the newspaper, even articles that didn’t interest us, so we could talk about them and I’ve always figured Scholastic Magazine was a big part of why I am intrigued by some many different things.
I hadn’t thought about Scholastic in years until this past week when the ever-thriving company, now Scholastic.com, revealed the results of a survey that included 10,000 teachers in America. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the huge project was called “Primary Sources 2012: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession” and provided a fascinating look at public education across the country today through the eyes of novice and experienced teachers alike.
The participants included teachers from kindergarten through high school and showed the “average” teacher works 10 hours and 40 minutes a day. It dispelled the notion that teachers are unhappy, affirmed “standardized tests” still aren’t popular in the noble profession and – just like doctors and lawyers – that teachers actually appreciate evaluation and continual feedback.
According to a press announcement, here are some of the more interesting findings in the “Primary Sources 2012” survey:
* -- Challenges facing students are significant and growing: 46% of veteran teachers say they are seeing fewer students prepared for challenging work than when they began teaching in their current schools. 56% are seeing more students living in poverty, and 49% are seeing more students coming to school hungry.
* -- Only 22% of teachers rate student academic achievement at their schools as "Excellent."
* -- High-school teachers believe only 60% of students in current classes could leave high school prepared to succeed in a 2- or 4- year college.
* -- Teachers welcome and are eager for more frequent evaluation of their practice from principals, peers and even students. Plus, they welcome feedback from a variety of sources.
* -- Teachers are open to tenure reform: Eighty percent of teachers agree that tenure should be regularly reevaluated, and on average, teachers say that tenure should be granted after 5.4 years of teaching.
* -- Teachers work an average of 10 hours, 40 minutes per workday, three hours and 20 minutes longer than the average required teacher workday nationwide.
* -- Standardized tests do not reflect student skill: Only 45% of teachers say their students’ take the test seriously and perform on them to the best of their ability
* -- Family involvement is the highest ranked factor for improving student achievement with 98% of teachers in agreement that it has a strong or very strong impact on student academic success. At the same time, 47% of veteran teachers report lower parental participation in their schools.
* -- The majority of teachers are satisfied in their jobs: Eighty nine percent of teachers are either very satisfied or satisfied in their jobs and only 16% of teachers plan on leaving teaching.
* -- 23 is the average number of students in the American public school classroom. On average, teachers report that student achievement is negatively affected once class size reaches 27 students.
* * *
Every day for the past week our need for better education has been in the news. Whether it is parents at over-crowded schools clamoring against hurtful rezoning or business leaders attending an educational “summit,” the pressing need to better prepare our young people is apparent everywhere we look.
It all begins with teachers. “Primary Sources 2012” will hopefully ensure the voice of teachers is at the center of the dialogue surrounding education as some critical choices are made. Those who would like a closer look at the survey can go to scholastic.com/primarysources.
royexum@aol.com