Teachers Give School Reform a Grade of ‘C’

A new survey of more than 13,000 teachers released today by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching offers mixed review from education’s trenches of the current school reform movement.

Teachers who responded to the national study--one of the largest ever conducted on teachers--had generally positive views on the impact of such changes as more rigorous courses and tougher graduation requirements that have been implemented since 1983 to improve the quality of education.

But the Carnegie study cautioned that “rejoicing should be muted,” in large part because the working conditions of teachers apparently have deteriorated rather than improved over the last five years.

Morale Declining

Half of the teachers surveyed responded that morale within their profession has declined substantially since 1983, and 70% gave the current reform drive a “C” grade or lower, even though the last five years have been the most active in the history of school reform, according to the author of the report, Carnegie Foundation President Ernest L. Boyer.

Many teachers “have remained dispirited,” Boyer wrote, “confronted with working conditions that have left them more responsible, but less empowered. They are concerned about loss of status, bureaucratic pressures, negative public image, and the lack of recognition and rewards.”

Carnegie mailed 40,000 questionnaires to a random sample of teachers. Nearly 40%, or 13,576, were returned. The responses were weighted to represent the relative number of teachers in each state. The margin of error was less than 1%.

Nationally, three out of five teachers surveyed said political control over education has increased, and more than half said they have more paper work today than five years ago.

Other Negative Results

More than a third reported that their classes have gotten larger and that they are being asked to shoulder more non-teaching duties, such as lunch supervision. More than a quarter said they have less private space at school for preparation and study than they did five years ago.

In addition, about 70% said reforms have failed to increase support of good teaching either through individual awards or grants to develop innovative teaching approaches.

In certain phases of the study, California teachers were more positive about their jobs and about progress in student achievement than their peers in other states.

Seventy-three percent of California teachers surveyed said their schools are requiring more English and literature courses, while nationwide only 53% of the teachers reported such an increase. And a slightly larger proportion of California teachers responded that they felt student writing and mathematics skills have increased.

More California teachers also reported progress in efforts to involve teachers in decisions regarding textbooks, curriculum and school objectives, compared to other teachers.

Forty-two percent felt teacher morale had declined, compared to 49% of all teachers surveyed.

But more than twice as many California teachers reported that programs for the gifted and for the disadvantaged have gotten worse, compared to all teachers surveyed. And while 38% of all teachers said the level of school financing has decreased, significantly more--57%--in California said it has declined.

More California teachers also said their classes have gotten bigger--California and Utah generally tie for last place in national rankings on class size--and that they have less daily preparation time and heavier daily teaching loads now than five years ago, compared to all teachers surveyed.

Honig’s Reaction

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said the teachers’ mixed assessment of the reform movement reflected “a realistic perception of what is occurring. Teachers are saying we’re making progress, we’re starting to see something happen, but you’ve got to keep the resources coming and you’ve got to involve us.”

Boyer said the most disturbing finding of the survey was that teachers are more demoralized and “largely unimpressed” by reform efforts to date, and urged school leaders to recognize that the problems besetting America’s public schools cannot be fixed unless teachers are given more authority to design the solutions.

HOW CALIFORNIA TEACHERS VIEW THEIR JOBS The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching last November asked 40,000 teachers nationwide whether certain aspects of their jobs have improved or worsened since 1983, when education reforms began to take effect. Carnegie said about 13,500--or 33.9%--of the teachers responded to the survey.

BETTER WORSE MORALE California 28% 42% All teachers 23% 49% INVOLVEMENT IN SHAPING CURRICULUM California 58% 11% All teachers 51% 10% DAILY TEACHING LOAD California 9% 40% All teachers 15% 32% PARENTAL SUPPORT OF TEACHERS California 27% 24% All teachers 26% 25%