BLITZ KRIEG PUBLISHING 

Survey Says Teacher Satisfaction Has Risen

By Donna Gundle-Krieg  April 28, 2009 Note: to comment on this and other stories about education, go to Examiner.com.

More teachers today say they are satisfied in their careers, feel respected and are  optimistic for the profession than at any other point in the past 25 years, according to the 2008 "MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present and Future."

As reported in The Dallas Morning News, the number of teachers who called themselves "very satisfied" reached an all-time high of 62 percent, compared to 40 percent in 1984, the first year the survey was conducted.

The survey is administered by Harris Interactive and is based on interviews of 1,000 public school teachers across the country, according to the Education Report.

Seventy-five percent of teachers surveyed said they would advise a young person to begin a career in teaching, compared to 45 percent in 1984.

Teachers overall reported higher satisfaction, more parent and community support, better availability of educational materials and better school facilities.

However, teachers in urban schools gave lower marks in each of those areas, and principals in urban schools reported more often than rural or suburban principals that students come to school unprepared, the survey showed.

Principals were surveyed separately.

Only 48 percent of today's teachers favor standardized tests as a way to track student performance, according to the survey; the number in 1984 was 61 percent.

For more information, see:

  
MetLife Survey of the American Teacher 2008