Is America Listening to Its Teachers?
Annual MetLife Teacher Survey Reveals Two-Thirds of Teachers Say Voices Unheard
Sixty-nine percent of teachers do not believe their
voices are heard in the debate on education, according to the latest MetLife
Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success.
Now in its 26th year, the MetLife Survey, conducted by Harris
Interactive®, examines the views of teachers, principals, and
students on their respective roles and responsibilities, current practices, and
priorities for the future. MetLife will
release the full results over the next two months. The survey was
conducted by telephone and online in October and November 2009.
The first of three reports, Part 1: Effective Teaching and Leadership, released February 19, 2010, focuses on what collaboration looks like in schools and to what degree
it is currently practiced. Key findings include:
- Teachers (69%) do not believe that their voices have been adequately heard in the debate on education.
- Teachers (67%) and principals (78%) believe that increased collaboration among teachers and school leaders would have a major impact on improving student achievement.
- Nearly all teachers engage in some type of collaborative activity at their school each week, on average, spending 2.7 hours per week in structured collaboration, with 24% of teachers spending more than 3 hours per week.
- Schools with higher degrees of collaboration are associated with shared leadership and higher levels of trust and job satisfaction.
- Teachers (80%) and principals (89%) believe that a school culture where students feel responsible and accountable for their own education would have a major impact on improving student achievement.
- Teachers and students differ widely in their perceptions of student responsibility. Although most students (73%) strongly agree it is their responsibility to pay attention and do the work it takes to succeed in school, only 43% of teachers say that all or most of their students have this sense of responsibility.
“The 21st century work place
teaches that an education is never complete,” said MetLife Chairman, President,
and CEO C. Robert Henrikson. “Collaboration plays a tremendous role in
today’s work environment, whether it’s with colleagues down the hall, across
the nation, or around the globe. This year’s survey looks at the school as
a workplace, among its many functions, and asks if, how, and to what extent
teachers, principals, and students work and learn together to increase their
success.”
The second of the three reports, Part 2: Student Achievement, is slated for
release the week of March 8, 2010, and will address collaboration more
specifically as it relates to student goals and academic achievement, teacher
expectations, and what educators consider important ways to increase student
achievement. The third and final report, Part 3: Teaching as a Career,
will be released in late March 2010, and will examine collaboration in the
context of addressing professional growth, experience level, and career path.
“The annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher is not just about asking,
but also about listening,” said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife
Foundation. “We can learn much from those closest to the classroom about
working together to increase student success.”
About the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student
Success
MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success
(2009) was conducted by Harris
Interactive among a national sample of 1,003 public school teachers of grades K
through 12, and 500 principals of grades K through 12, by telephone, and 1,018
public school students in grades 3 through 12 online between October 14 and November
13, 2009. The data were weighted to key demographic variables to align with the
national population of the respective groups. No estimates of theoretical
sampling error can be calculated. In addition, an online strategy session was
conducted on September 15, 2009 among a group of 25 public school teacher
leaders, principals, and public education thought leaders to inform the
development of the survey.
The previous reports for the entire series
are now available online at
www.metlife.com/teachersurvey with links to
the ERIC (Education Resources
Information Center) website: http://eric.ed.gov.
About MetLife
MetLife is a leading provider of insurance and financial services with
operations throughout the United States and the Latin America, Europe and Asia
Pacific regions. It has demonstrated its belief in education and contributes to
its improvement in part through the sponsorship of the MetLife Survey of the
American Teacher series since 1984 to give voice to those closest to the
classroom. MetLife Foundation places strong emphasis on education
and draws on the findings of the Survey to inform its grantmaking. For more
information about MetLife, please visit the company’s Web site at www.metlife.com.
Additional information about the Foundation is available at www.metlife.org.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading
custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business
acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely
for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies,
Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries and serves clients in
over 215 countries and territories. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
