Teacher satisfaction appears to be on the rise after hitting a record low last year.
The second annual Merrimack College Teacher Survey, conducted by the EdWeek Research Center, polled 1,200 teachers nationwide in January. Some promising findings include:
- Two-thirds of teachers report satisfaction with their jobs, up from 56 percent last year.
- Twenty percent indicated they are “very satisfied,” up from 12 percent last year.
- Fewer teachers (35 percent) say they’re planning to quit in the next two years than last year (44 percent).
Although satisfaction seems to be trending upward, the numbers remain significantly lower than a decade ago. Notably, mental health challenges play a significant role. Forty-two percent of teachers felt their teaching and professional growth was hindered due to the state of their mental health, and more than half of teachers said the mental health and wellness of teachers in their school declined over the 2022-2023 school year.
The most popular actions teachers want districts to take to support their mental well-being are:
- Pay raise or bonus to reduce financial stress (67 percent)
- Smaller class sizes (62 percent)
- More/better support for student discipline-related issues (62 percent)
- Fewer administrative burdens associated with meetings and paperwork (57 percent)
- More acknowledgement of good work/hard work/successes (54 percent)
The full Merrimack College Teacher Survey results can be downloaded via the EducationWeek website.
Sarah James is the communications specialist at TASB HR Services. Send Sarah an email at sarah.james@tasb.org.
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Tagged: HR, Surveys