Upbeat Shares Expansive Findings About Educators' Experiences Teaching from Home During School Closures
New teacher survey finds disparities in student engagement and access along socioeconomic and racial lines amid other insights on impact of pandemic on teaching and learning
NEW YORK, June 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- This week, Upbeat, an educational technology company, released preliminary results from their "Teaching from Home" survey which examined teachers' experiences working from home due to the pandemic. The findings of the report complement and extend recent findings by smaller, nationally representative surveys by USA Today, Educators for Excellence, Ed Week, and RAND that the pandemic is exacerbating achievement gaps across racial and socioeconomic lines. Given the breadth of Upbeat's analyses, a number of other new insights emerged, including an important conclusion that teachers' sense of success teaching remotely is strongly related to their working conditions in any school setting.
Upbeat's "Teaching from Home" survey asked teachers about communication they have received from their school and district leaders while teaching from home; access to technological tools and training around remote teaching; work-life balance and teacher collaboration while working from home; and self-efficacy while teaching remotely. Over 7,000 teachers participated in the survey from schools across nine southern, midwestern and eastern states. These teachers represent 194 traditional and charter public schools in rural, suburban and urban contexts.
In Upbeat's results, teachers' sense of success teaching remotely is closely related to the degree to which their district, school administrators, and peers are supportive.
- In schools with highly-supportive working conditions, the percent of teachers who feel successful declined slightly from 99% before the Covid-19 closures to 93% during remote learning.
- Teachers in schools with unsupportive working conditions experienced a 42 percent decline from 90% of teachers feeling successful prior to closures to 48% self-efficacy during remote learning.
"As a former teacher and now, education researcher, I have seen, time and again, how critical working conditions are to the success of teachers and, ultimately, students," remarked Dr. Matt Kraft, Director of Research at Upbeat. "Our results suggest that working conditions are even more important for supporting teachers while they work from home. This insight is critical for district and school leaders to appreciate as teachers prepare for the continuation of digital or hybrid learning next year."
Upbeat's findings further support research conducted thus far predicting that the pandemic will widen existing achievement gaps. In high-poverty schools and schools that serve a majority of Black students, teachers reported that their students are facing more challenges engaging in remote learning. This is likely due to systemic disparities across communities in education, economic, and health conditions. For example, both low-income and Black communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, face greater job losses due to the pandemic, and are more likely to lack access and resources for remote learning as a result of existing school funding models.
- Teachers in high-poverty schools report that only 50% of students regularly engage in remote learning, whereas their counterparts at low-poverty schools engage at a much higher rate—75%.
- In schools where a majority of students are Black, teachers report that 45% of students regularly engage in remote learning compared to 72% of students in schools where less than 10% of the students are Black.
- Among teachers in high-poverty schools, only 64% agree their students have the necessary technology for remote learning relative to 87% in low-poverty schools.
- In schools where the majority of students are Black, teachers report that only 66% of students have the necessary technology to engage in remote learning compared to 81% of students in schools where less than 10% of the students are Black.
"With a team full of former educators at Upbeat, we have always seen education as one of several roads toward dismantling systemic inequality and racism. Our team members all chose this path as our personal way to influence a more just and fair society. While the implications of this data highlighting the economic and racial disparity in our country is disturbing, we are proud to partner with school leaders working to confront these issues and drive strong instruction & support for their students. We know how important it is to have a healthy workplace for teachers to position them for success and this data only shows that this extends to the digital environment as well. We look forward to continuing to be a voice for teachers as district leaders prepare for an uncertain year ahead," shared Henry Wellington, Upbeat's Founder and CEO.
About Upbeat
Upbeat works with K-12 districts across the country on administering a research-grounded survey to elevate teacher engagement and retention by fostering strong school environments. Founded and led by former educators, we bring together data scientists, technologists, and experienced former school leaders to deliver a research-backed solution. Our surveys paired with tailored toolkits and leadership coaching, surface real-time insights so that principals and district leaders are able to better understand and uncover the conditions affecting employee morale and establish actionable plans to improve teacher and staff retention. More information about the company and its approach can be found at http://teachupbeat.com or by contacting Kylie Davis at [email protected].
SOURCE Upbeat Education
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