National Survey Reveals 96 Percent of Educators Surveyed Believe They Are Effective in the Classroom, But Majority Still Say Public Education is Failing
Salt Lake City (PRWEB) January 30, 2014 -- School Improvement Network, the leader in educator effectiveness resources, today released the results of a survey measuring educators’ opinions of their effectiveness, the role of parents in education and the health of public education in general. In the wake of the State of the Union address highlighting an ongoing focus on education, School Improvement Network devoted this installment of its survey series, “Voices of Education” on four simple questions, receiving more than 2,100 responses from educators in all 50 states.
According to survey results, teachers believe they are effective, but a slight majority of respondents believe that education is failing, and 89 percent believe that parents are not doing enough to help their students.
“Today’s classrooms face an array of issues that could include everything from rising numbers of students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities and behavioral issues to students with uninvolved or under-involved parents,” said Chet D. Linton, CEO and president of School Improvement Network. “Understandably, education policy tends to look at remedies to ease issues in the classroom, but the foundational issue that remains is educator effectiveness, and we need to be sure we are providing the resources and tools for teachers to be successful in the classroom.”
School Improvement Network provides research-proven tools and resources to give teachers the support and training they need to be successful with every student in all classroom situations. After visiting thousands of classrooms nationwide, they have compiled their research and best practices into a video library of over 3,500 videos of real master teachers in real classrooms showing how educators can reach every student to help them become college and career ready.
Short and long form responses included the following information:
• Do you believe you are an effective educator?
o 96 percent of educators said yes, 4 percent of educators said no
o “While I do feel I am an effective teacher, I know there are areas I can and need to improve on. At the same time, I can only do so much; the students need to work harder to do better.”
• Do you believe your colleagues are effective educators?
o 89 percent of educators said yes, 11 percent of educators said no
o “Not all educators are effective, just like not every doctor has a good bedside manner. The better discussion is how do we make the profession such that good teachers want to get better?”
o “Teachers as a group are among the most caring and dedicated professionals we have. They are grossly underappreciated.”
• Do you believe the public education system is failing?
o 52 percent of educators said yes, 48 percent of educators said no
o “The system is suffering and needs help, but it is not failing. We are dedicated and motivated, but it is very easy to lose hope without support from the public and our legislators.”
o “The only real problem in public education is federal and state interference by people who have no clue about education, only what they think sounds good to voters.”
• Do you believe parents are doing enough to help their children be successful in school?
o 11 percent of educators said yes, 89 percent of educators said no
o “Teachers cannot teach everything. Parents have to do their part. Too much is put on teachers today and not enough accountability on the parents.”
o “The government expects miracles from educators, when parents play the most vital role in a child’s life and they are failing their children, our students.”
Full results of the surveys can be found here and will be available beginning today.
About School Improvement Network
Founded in 1991 by teachers, School Improvement Network has spent decades researching and documenting the best practices in education. From this research, School Improvement Network has developed the Educator Effectiveness System. This system delivers a process to improve teacher practice and gives educators a set of powerful tools to drive the process. Research shows that districts and schools that use the tools in the Educator Effectiveness System produce better teachers, and, as a result, experience dramatic increases in student achievement, driving up student proficiency by an average of 18 percent in single year. School Improvement Network works with thousands of schools and districts in every state and around the world and has visited over 3,500 classrooms to document best practices in action. Learn more at http://www.schoolimprovement.com.
School Improvement Network and its logos are trademarks of School Improvement Network. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Abigail Shaha, School Improvement Network, +1 (801) 572-1153, [email protected]
Share this article