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Invitation To A Health Care Reform Dialogue

Francie Grace — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:43:07 -0500

On too many issues, the political discussion provides more heat than light, and the public doesn't have a chance to deliberate over the choices for solving problems. That certainly applies to health care reform, an area in which opinion is split, often in contradictory ways.

A Gallup poll last month found 54 percent who said it's a government responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage, and 41 percent who said the opposite. At the same time, 25 percent said they expected to support the final health care bill, 33 percent expected to oppose it, and 39 percent said it all depends on decisions yet to be made about the legislation.

So here's an invitation for citizens to step up and be part of the debate: the National Issues Forum Institute (NIFI) is holding an online deliberation on health care. Here's the link to use to join the deliberation: http://nifi-healthcare.dialoguecircles.com - - you can also forward this URL to colleagues and others who might want to join in, or post it on your Twitter feed or Facebook site. To get ready, you can check out our Citizen's Survival Kit and NIFI's health care workbook, based on research by the Kettering Foundation.

Still Number One

Scott Bittle — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:36 -0500

As if anyone needed proof that immigration will remain a major issue, a new international survey reports that some 700 million people worldwide say they would move to another country if they could. Not surprisingly, the largest single group, one-quarter, say their first choice would be to come to the United States.

We can't speak to the view of those overseas, but we can certainly talk about the immigrants who are already here. In our survey of immigrants, A Place to Call Home, we found a powerful endorsement of life in America. More than seven in 10 say that if they could do it all over again, they'd still come to the United States. Just as many say they intend to make the United States their permanent home.

The reasons are simple enough: immigrants buy into American society. Three-quarters say the United States is "a unique country that stands for something special." Strong majorities also rate the U.S. as better than their birth country on a range of dimensions, including making a good living, having a trustworthy legal system and providing education and health care.

With all the ups and downs of our international reputation, with all the challenges we face, people still want to come to America. And the ones who have already come here, want to stay. That's a powerful endorsement – and in fact, you couldn't ask for a better one.

The "Awkward Age" – America's Human Resources Challenge

Francie Grace — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:41:25 -0500

The term used to be applied to early adolescence, but there's a new tricky phase of life: people from their late 50s to late 60s: healthier and longer-lived than previous generations, and many wanting or needing to stay in the workforce. So says Public Agenda's Andrew Yarrow, in a Baltimore Sun Op Ed with a lot of great links to organizations that are helping both older workers and the economy, with job training programs and opportunities for those who'd like to share their experience with others a few years behind them in their careers. Click here to check out the full article.

The new 'awkward age'

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:42:40 -0500

Reprinted from The Baltimore Sun

By Andrew L. Yarrow

Millions between midlife and old age need jobs, security and a new sense of purpose

"The Awkward Age" was a term long applied to early adolescence. Today, for demographic and economic reasons, a new awkward age has emerged in the United States: people from their late 50s to late 60s. They are not "old," as a 65-year-old would have been considered 50 years ago, but they're just beyond midlife. Conventionally, this age group has been seen as on the cusp of retirement or retired, doting on their grandchildren.

Today, the picture no longer fits many of the tens of millions of Americans at this stage of life, who - in our youth-obsessed culture - generally don't think of themselves as old. Americans live 15 years longer than two generations ago. Many at this stage of life need or want to work longer. The challenge for us is both ensuring economic well-being for this rapidly growing population and helping define a new identity and purpose for people who are neither middle-aged nor truly elderly.

Many older Americans want to work or are forced by economic need to do so. Yet, they face disincentives ranging from access to Social Security, private pensions and Medicare to our society's lingering belief that it is "normal" to retire somewhere between 62 and 66 (if not earlier), to forced early retirement and, usually, subtle age discrimination. Social Security reform proposals include raising the full eligibility age, and the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act barred employers from not hiring someone because of their age.

But demographic and employment projections pose huge challenges for this group - challenges that will only accelerate during coming decades. Of the 60 million citizens 55 and over, 25 million work (70 percent of 55-to-64-year-olds and 29 percent of those over 65, compared with 84 percent of people between 25 and 54). Labor force participation for those 65 and older has doubled during the last 15 years, although the rate is still much lower than at the end of World War II, when people died much earlier (and many simply worked until they died).

America is aging and people are healthy and active ever longer, but labor force growth is slowing: Between 2006 and 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the work force will increase by 83 percent among those over 65 and 36 percent among Americans 55 to 64 but barely 2 percent for those between 25 and 54 - and it will continue to decrease among those in their early 20s.

So, what should individuals do during this awkward age? And what do we do as a nation that needs employment to strengthen economic growth? In addition, how do we help these tens of millions of Americans find new identity and meaning for their lives, while ensuring their economic security?

For individuals, the long-term outlook is bleak if they want to work, even though over-55's have experienced less unemployment than younger Americans during this recession. The New America Foundation recently estimated that America needs to create nearly a million jobs a year just to keep pace with population growth, but the ugly truth is that net job creation has been slowing to a crawl, even before the recession. America created jobs between 1990 and 2005 at half the rate that it did during the preceding 15 years. Although employment projections are hotly debated and can be thrown off by unexpected factors, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth to fall by another 50 percent between 2006 and 2016. Other analysts are gloomier.

Huge increases in the over-55 population and job growth heading south don't paint a pretty picture. Do we allow, or force, more older Americans to retire, increasing the burden on an already-strained Social Security system? Do we leave many over-55's with less income, perhaps diminished self-esteem and happiness, and a lot of time on their hands? Doing nothing also would mean lower tax revenues and higher unemployment insurance costs for government, and higher (re)training costs for government and business, and for our other social assistance and insurance programs. What's more, adult children of this "young old" population may have to provide economic support, have their parents move in, and deal with their elders' depression and boredom.

So, what are alternative scenarios for Americans in this awkward age? For starters, government and business could invest much more in older worker training programs and expand existing ones such as the Labor Department's Senior Community Service Employment Program. Private employers and government could be provided tax breaks or subsidies to hire over 55's (ideally, such incentives could be recouped through higher tax revenues). Beyond working as greeters in Wal-Marts - or the better option of embarking on new careers based on unfulfilled lifelong interests - older Americans could help address many pressing national needs, such as looming teacher shortages, caregiving for the very elderly, mentoring the young and providing support for charitable and nonprofit organizations. Many also could be hired part-time for their experience, to train and impart knowledge to younger workers.

IBM has been a leader, with its Transition to Teaching, Bridgestar initiative and FedExperience Pilot Program to provide money and training to help older employees transition into new careers. Other employers should be much less averse to people 55 and older contributing their experience or retooling themselves and starting new careers. Community colleges also have been leaders for older Americans who want to redefine themselves in their careers. Federal initiatives such as the Senior Corps volunteer program could be significantly expanded.

Beyond employment, the broader culture needs to catch up with 21st century America. We may applaud George H.W. Bush for skydiving at 85 or John Glenn for returning to space at 77. Media and advertising encourage older Americans to look, act and think young. Yet, public distaste for the idea of people over 55 starting new careers also needs to change. We need role models in TV, film and other media portraying successful older workers, as well as more older fashion models (such as the woman selling glamour in a recent Dove soap commercial).

Demographic, economic, public policy and cultural factors will continue to influence what American life will be like in this new awkward age. However, we need to recognize the problems and act to provide more choices and opportunities to benefit this rapidly growing segment of the population - and our nation as a whole.

Andrew L. Yarrow is vice president and Washington director of Public Agenda and an adjunct history professor at American University. He is the author of Forgive Us Our Debts: The Intergenerational Dangers of Fiscal Irresponsibility and the forthcoming book "Measuring America." His e-mail is ayarrow@publicagenda.org.

The Best Idea Yet on Climate Change

Scott Bittle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:51:59 -0500

At one of the last preliminary meetings leading up to the international climate change conference, a U.N. official called on the diplomats to craft "simple, clear options for politicians" at Copenhagen.

An excellent idea, but they've left it until pretty late in the day. And when they've created these clear options, they might want to let the public in on them, too.

If Public Agenda's work in public engagement has taught us anything, it's that people need options. That's how most people make decisions, by weighing alternatives and considering tradeoffs. And that's what has been missing from much of the debate so far. Most people have been confused more than engaged, and that doesn't help when it comes to making the choices needed: not just whether we switch away from fossil fuels, but to what alternatives, and how quickly?

Those choices might also be useful in Washington, where a Senate committee is supposed to vote on a major climate change bill. But the Democrats are divided and the Republicans may not even show up, so the fate of the bill remains uncertain. This comes back to tradeoffs, too.

Filling in the knowledge gaps and explaining the options for change may be the most important element in solving our energy problems. Because if world leaders still need to have the options laid out before making a decision, imagine how the public feels.

Supporting Teacher Talent

Peiting Chen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:40:10 -0500

At the same time, only ten percent say student performance on standardized tests would be an "excellent" measure of teacher success.

The findings, which include an exploration of attitudes toward unions, are part of a national study designed to provide a comprehensive and nuanced look at the question of whether different generations bring different aspirations, concerns and perspectives to teaching.

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y is the second in a series of three reports funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

Click here to see the first report in this series, Teaching For A Living: How Teachers See The Profession Today, released on Oct. 19, 2009.

Chilly Reception for Climate Change Bill?

Scott Bittle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:47:56 -0500

The Senate environment committee is supposed to vote on a landmark bill to fight climate change this week. But the legislation's fate is in doubt as Democrats remain divided and Republicans may not even show up. The core of the struggle comes over the crucial part of any proposal to deal with energy and global warming: making tradeoffs. We've got resources to help you work through the choices senators are wrestling with, including Who Turned Out the Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis, the new book by Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson. Click here to learn more.

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y

Francie Grace — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:55:25 -0500

New research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates examining the views of Generation Y teachers shows that 71 percent are open to financial incentives for teachers who consistently work harder and put in more time and effort. Just ten percent say student performance on standardized tests would be an "excellent" measure of teacher success. The study, examining whether different generations bring different aspirations, concerns and perspectives to teaching, is the second in a series of three reports funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

Young Teachers Assess Old Views and Traditional Methods

Peiting Chen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:57:52 -0400

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y Charts

Peiting Chen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:46:33 -0400

Supporting Teacher Talent

Full Report: online at
Learning Point Associates

PowerPoint Presentation (.pdf)

Charts

Survey Questions & Answers

Teaching As A Career Choice

Working Conditions

Success In The Classroom

Proposed Reforms

Teachers' Unions

If I Had My Choice…

Survey Participants: Demographics

Methodology

Funding & Acknowledgements

Download News Release (.pdf)

Charts: The View from Generation Y

The "Supporting Teacher Talent" report examines whether different generations of educators bring different aspirations, concerns, and perspectives to teaching. These charts highlight some of the findings from this study; the full report is available at Learning Point Associates, while full survey results are available here.

Charts From Finding One

1. Majorities of all teachers are open to many forms of differentiated pay

2. Gen Y teachers are more likely to believe that performance pay would improve teacher effectiveness

3. Most teachers think that financial rewards for student performance are unfair, although Gen Y teachers are less likely to hold this view

4. All teachers worry about the effects of performance-based compensation, but Gen Y teachers are most concerned about unhealthy competition among teachers, while older teachers worry more about the power it gives to principals

5. While Gen Y teachers are more open to performance pay in general, Gen X and Baby Boomer teachers are more likely to be comfortable basing calculations of performance on students’ standardized test scores.

6. Gen Y and older teachers agree on the extent to which they favor rewarding all teachers in the school financially if their students routinely score higher than similar students on standardized tests

Charts From Finding Two

1. Teachers value good working conditions

2. Low salary is not teachers' primary concern about their jobs

3. Increasing salaries falls in the middle among proposals to improve teaching and financial incentives receive the least support

Charts From Finding Three

1. Making it easier to remove poor teachers from the classroom receives support from all teachers

2. Teachers acknowledge there are underperforming teachers in their schools, and they can agree on who they are

3. However, there is less support for ending tenure

4. There is rising concern that unions too often protect ineffective teachers

Chart From Finding Four

1. Gen Y teachers tend to desire sustained, constructive, and individualized feedback to help them become more effective in the classroom.

Chart From Finding Five

1. All teachers desire meaningful collaboration with their colleagues, not just younger ones

Charts From Finding Six

1. Despite the large numbers of young teachers leaving the classroom, large majorities Gen Y teachers say they see themselves teaching for at least the next 10 years

2. Majorities also see teaching is a lifelong career choice, but many would like to pursue a different job in education

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y

Peiting Chen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:39:53 -0400

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y

By Jane G. Coggshall, Ph.D., Amber Ott, Ellen Behrstock, and Molly Lasagna

Supporting Teacher Talent

Full Report: online at
Learning Point Associates

PowerPoint Presentation (.pdf)

Charts

Survey Questions & Answers

Teaching As A Career Choice

Working Conditions

Success In The Classroom

Proposed Reforms

Teachers' Unions

If I Had My Choice…

Survey Participants: Demographics

Methodology

Funding & Acknowledgements

Other Reports In This Series

Download News Release (.pdf)

Young Teachers Assess Old Views and Traditional Methods:
7 Out of 10 Gen Y Teachers Open to Incentive Pay, but Only 10 Percent Rate Standardized Testing as Successful Measure

New Research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates
Examines Gen Y Teacher Views

New York, NY—A new study released today paints a national picture of Generation Y teachers revealing an openness to incentive pay. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers are open to rewarding teachers based on incentive pay, whereas only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that student performance on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of teacher success.

The nationwide study, Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y, from Public Agenda, a nonprofit research organization, and Learning Point Associates, a nonprofit education research and consulting organization, offers a comprehensive and nuanced look at the question of whether different generations bring different aspirations, concerns, and perspectives to teaching.

“Traditionally, teachers have strongly opposed differentiating pay based on student performance, but we found evidence that those attitudes may be changing among Gen Y teachers,” said Jane Coggshall, Ph.D., coprincipal investigator for the Supporting Teacher Talent study. “However, young teachers, like teachers of all ages, are concerned about using standardized test scores as the principal criterion.”

According to Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., chief program officer for educator quality at Learning Point Associates, “The study findings send a strong message to school leaders who need to recognize that to retain our best teachers, it is imperative to support teacher effectiveness through improved teaching and learning conditions because teachers, more than anything, want to make a difference for their students.”

The study explores the attitudes of all teachers toward how they wish to be compensated, examines how they view their unions, and expands on the following findings:

1. Most Gen Y teachers support incentive pay for teachers who consistently work harder and put in more time and effort than other teachers. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers favor giving financial incentives to teachers who consistently work harder, putting in more time and effort than other teachers, with 25 percent “strongly” in favor.

* These differences are not statistically significant.

2. Gen Y teachers are deeply concerned about using standardized test scores to measure their performance. Only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that how well students perform on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of success as a teacher, and 72 percent of them believe it is unfair to tie teacher pay to how well students perform when so many things that affect learning are beyond their control.

* Gen X teachers are defined as those teachers between the ages of 33 and 44.
Baby Boomers are those teachers aged 45 to 63.

Despite openness to incentive pay, it is not Gen Y’s first choice as a strategy for improving teaching. The idea of tying teacher rewards to student performance ranked last among 12 proposals, including requiring new teachers to spend more time teaching in classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers, requiring teachers to pass tough tests of their knowledge of the subjects they are teaching, and ensuring that the latest technology is available in each classroom to aid instruction.

3. Teachers’ concerns that unions sometimes protect seriously underperforming teachers have risen in recent years. Sixty-six percent of all teachers agreed that unions sometimes fight to protect teachers who should not be in the classroom, as compared with 48 percent of teachers who agreed with this statement in 2003.

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y is based on six focus group interviews conducted throughout the country as well as a national, random-sample survey of 890 public school teachers conducted in spring and summer 2009, including an oversample of 241 teachers aged 32 and under. The work was underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Joyce Foundation.

Funding & Acknowledgements

Founded in 1975 by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Public Agenda works to help the nation’s leaders better understand the public’s point of view and to help average citizens better understand critical policy issues. Our in-depth research on how citizens think about policy has been praised for its credibility and fairness, by elected officials, experts and decision makers from across the political spectrum. Our citizen education materials and award-winning website, PublicAgenda.org, offer unbiased information about the challenges the country faces on a wide range of policy issues.

Learning Point Associates is a nationally recognized, nonprofit education research and consulting organization with 25 years of experience working with educators and policymakers to transform education systems and student learning. Our reputation is built on a solid foundation of designing and conducting rigorous and relevant education research and evaluations; developing and delivering tools, services, and resources targeted at pressing education issues; and analyzing and synthesizing education policy trends and practices. Our professional staff of 150 continues to grow as our work expands both nationally and internationally. Our offices are located in Chicago, Washington, D.C, Naperville, Illinois; and New York. For more information, please visit http://www.learningpt.org.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

The Joyce Foundation supports efforts to protect the natural environment of the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure that its people have access to good schools, decent jobs, and a diverse and thriving culture. We are especially interested in improving public policies, because public systems such as education and welfare directly affect the lives of so many people, and because public policies help shape private sector decisions about jobs, the environment, and the health of our communities. To ensure that public policies truly reflect public rather than private interests, we support efforts to reform the system of financing election campaigns.

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y Methodology

Peiting Chen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:02:00 -0400

Supporting Teacher Talent

Full Report: online at
Learning Point Associates

PowerPoint Presentation (.pdf)

Charts

Survey Questions & Answers

Teaching As A Career Choice

Working Conditions

Success In The Classroom

Proposed Reforms

Teachers' Unions

If I Had My Choice…

Survey Participants: Demographics

Methodology

Funding & Acknowledgements

Other Reports In This Series

Download News Release (.pdf)

Methodology For This Study

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y is based on a nationally representative survey of 890 teachers throughout the continental United States. The survey was preceded by six focus groups conducted in sites across the country.

Telephone Survey

Data were collected by phone and online between April 16 and June 22, 2009. In order to capture the views of younger teachers as well as the perspectives of teachers overall, the survey included an oversample of 241 teachers aged 18 to 32; 642 interviews were conducted with teachers age 33 or older. The response rate for the survey was 25 percent.

The margin of error for the report is plus or minus 4.4 percent. However, it is higher when comparing subgroups or question items that weren’t asked of all respondents.

Sample Design

Sample was provided by Market Data Retrieval (MDR). A disproportionately stratified sample along with screening was used to over-represent teachers ages 18 to 32. Sample was drawn from MDR’s master list of classroom teachers who teach in the continental United States’ public schools and then stratified by school type and tenure to ensure sufficient young and older teachers across school types for the analysis.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire was designed by Public Agenda, and all interpretation of the data reflected in this report was done by Public Agenda. As in all surveys, question order effects and other non-sampling sources of error can sometimes affect results. Steps were taken to minimize these, including pre-testing the survey instrument and randomizing the order in which some question and answer categories were read. The data was collected by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

Weighting Procedures

Survey data were weighted to (1) adjust for the fact that not all survey respondents were selected with the same probability and (2) account for gaps in coverage and non-response biases in the survey frame. Weights were applied to balance gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, region, year started in the teaching profession and type of school. The parameters for sex, age, race/ethnicity and education came from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Schools and Staffing Survey. The region parameter was derived from the Census Bureau’s 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement Survey data. Parameters for year to profession and type of school came from MDR sample frame counts. The overall design effect of the weighting procedure is 1.82.

Analysis

For this research, we conducted a “cluster analysis,” or a series of statistical tests, to group data based on response patterns. Rather than using predetermined definitions, the technique explored how the teachers group naturally. Nearly every variable of the study was included in the analysis, utilizing all questions that were asked of the total sample and also the teacher's demographic characteristics.

The result of those tests is three groups: the Idealists (23 percent of survey respondents), the Contented (37 percent) and the Disheartened (40 percent). Each of the three groups has a distinctive set of attitudes and concerns that shape how they approach their careers and the education profession. We believe this is even more significant than the traditional separations by age, school-type, race or income, although the segments often coalesced along demographic lines.

Focus Groups

Focus groups allow for an in-depth, qualitative exploration of the dynamics underlying teacher’s attitudes toward complex issues. Insights from participants in these focus groups were important to the survey design, and actual quotes were drawn from the focus group to give voice to attitudes captured statistically through the surveys. All focus groups were moderated by Public Agenda or Learning Points Associates staff.

Three focus groups were conducted with a randomly selected group of young teachers in Long Beach, California; Madison, Wisconsin; and Washington, DC. An additional three focus groups were conducted with teachers who had been recognized for their effectiveness by their local school district (for example, through performance bonuses) in Raleigh, North Carolina; Denver, Colorado; and Chicago, Illinois.

Stimulated, But Worried (With Good Reason)

Francie Grace — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0400

There was both joy and skepticism on Wall Street, as third quarter GDP figures showed growth in the U.S. economy for the first time in over a year, a 3.5 percent annual rate expansion fanned by government stimulus spending seen as suggesting an end to the recession.

One group not seen stocking up on party hats is the economists. "The economy has emerged with gusto from the deepest recession since World War II," Unicredit Markets economist Harm Bandholz told Reuters. "The short-term prospects for the economy remain good."

"Short-term" is, indeed, the watchword, and Reuters underscores it with the words of economist Chris Low: "The economy is entirely dependent on federal deficit spending at the moment… Once the government steps aside, growth is likely to fall back to a one to two percent rate of growth."

So the long-term problem of the federal budget deficit and escalating national debt remains, and will have to be dealt with before the long-term is allowed to play out. That's a message you've heard here before – but here are a few new tidbits to help you wrap your mind around the issue and get involved in making the spending choices that are determining our present and shaping our future:

Lessons from the land of the rising sun: Japan, which has tried government deficit spending as an economic cure for a lot longer and to the point where its gross public debt is now twice the size of its $5 trillion economy (U.S. debt is nearly 98% of GDP), is now being treated to analysts wondering about the yen, with one suggesting its bond-financing strategy could falter within three to five years.

The merging of two titan issues: deficit reduction and health care. Democrats rallying for the latest version of the health care bill said the Congressional Budget Office estimated the coverage-related cost at $894 billion over the next ten years. Christina Romer, the head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, in a speech Monday, was emphatic that it would be "fiscally irresponsible not to do health care reform" and stressed that "we are also on track to meet the president's promise that health care reform will not add one dime to the deficit."

The Prosperity Index. Finland's #1. Click here to see how we're doing. Then check out our resources on this topic – the Citizen's Survival Kit and the Facing Up web site and curriculum for citizens and students – and get started. Each of us is able to both understand what's at stake and do something about it.

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y Full Survey Results

Peiting Chen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:27:40 -0400

Supporting Teacher Talent

Full Report: online at
Learning Point Associates

PowerPoint Presentation (.pdf)

Charts

Survey Questions & Answers

Teaching As A Career Choice

Working Conditions

Success In The Classroom

Proposed Reforms

Teachers' Unions

If I Had My Choice…

Survey Participants: Demographics

Methodology

Funding & Acknowledgements

Other Reports In This Series

Download News Release (.pdf)

Supporting Teacher Talent: The View from Generation Y Full Survey Results

"Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y" is the second of a series of three reports based on a nationally representative survey of 890 teachers. Data were collected by phone and online between April 16 and June 22, 2009. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent.

Results of less than 0.5 percent are signified by an asterisk. Results of zero are signified by a dash. Responses may not always total 100 percent due to rounding or the omission of some answer categories. Combining answer categories may produce slight discrepancies between numbers in these survey results and number in the report.

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers

Q1 - Q6. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q7. What is your best estimate for how many more years you think you’ll be a classroom teacher? Do you think it will be for the next year or so, 2 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years or more than 10 years, or do you think you will not come back next year?	Not coming back next year	2%	*	3%
	Next year or so	6%	4%	6%
	2 to 4 years	16%	11%	16%
	5 to 10 years	33%	17%	36%
	More than 10 years	43%	68%	38%
	Don’t know/Refused	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q8. Do you think of teaching as a lifelong career choice, do you think you’ll probably leave the classroom for another job in education, or will you change fields altogether?	Lifelong career choice	72%	56%	75%
	Probably leave the classroom for another job in education	20%	42%	15%
	Change fields altogether	7%	2%	8%
	Don’t know/Refused	1%	*	2%

Q9. Held for future release

Q10. Please tell me if you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. (RANDOMIZE)

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a. Teaching is so demanding, it's a wonder that more people don't burn out.	Strongly agree	51%	41%	52%
	Somewhat agree	40%	53%	37%
	Somewhat disagree	8%	4%	8%
	Strongly disagree	2%	2%	2%
	DK/Ref.	0%	0%	0%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b. Teaching is exactly what I wanted – there is nothing I’d rather be doing.	Strongly agree	50%	36%	53%
	Somewhat agree	36%	51%	33%
	Somewhat disagree	11%	10%	11%
	Strongly disagree	2%	3%	2%
	DK/Ref.	*	*	0%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c. I believe that all my students, given the right support, can go to college if they choose.	Strongly agree	39%	44%	38%
	Somewhat agree	34%	35%	34%
	Somewhat disagree	17%	19%	17%
	Strongly disagree	10%	20%	11%
	DK/Ref.	*	0%	*

Q11. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q12. If you had to pick from this list, which would be the most difficult thing about being a teacher, is it [RANDOMIZE 1-5]?	Unreasonable pressure to raise student achievement	32%	27%	33%
	Lack of effort from students	25%	23%	25%
	Lack of support from parents	23%	18%	23%
	Lack of support from administrators	11%	12%	11%
	Low pay and lack of opportunity for advancement	8%	19%	6%
	(VOL.) None of these	*	*	*
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	1%	1%

Q13 - Q15. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q16. Which comes closer to your view, even if neither is exactly right? [RANDOMIZE 1-2]	I prefer having a principal who frequently observes my classroom and gives me detailed feedback on how I am doing (OR)	63%	70%	61%
	I prefer having a principal who conducts formal observations of my teaching only once a year or so and gives me only general feedback (OR)	36%	30%	38%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	*	1%

Q17a AND Q17b rotated

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
17a. Given a choice between two schools in otherwise identical districts, which would you prefer to work in… (ROTATE 1-2)?	The school where student behavior and parental support were significantly better (OR)	84%	83%	84%
	The school that paid a significantly higher salary (OR)	15%	17%	15%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	0%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
17b. Given a choice between two schools in otherwise identical districts, which would you prefer to work in… (ROTATE 1-2)?	The school where administrators gave strong backing and support to teachers (OR)	77%	74%	77%
	The school which paid a significantly higher salary (OR)	22%	26%	21%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	0%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q18. This year, about how many teachers in your building do you think fail to do a good job and are simply going through the motions? (READ 1-4)	None,	18%	15%	19%
	A few,	59%	54%	60%
	More than a few, OR	18%	28%	16%
	Quite a large number?	4%	3%	4%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	0%	1%

Q19 - Q23. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q24. How would you complete this statement: This year, as a result of my instruction, the subject matter test scores of most of my students…(READ 1-4 IN ORDER):	Increased a lot from the beginning of the year,	43%	38%	44%
	Increased somewhat from the beginning of the year,	52%	57%	52%
	Did not increase, or	2%	2%	2%
	Decreased somewhat?	1%	*	1%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	2%	3%	2%

Q25. Held for future release

Q26. Please tell me how good you think the following measures are at indicating your success as a teacher? (RANDOMIZE)

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a. How well the students perform on your district’s standardized tests	Excellent	12%	10%	12%
	Good	44%	40%	45%
	Fair	30%	40%	27%
	Poor	12%	7%	13%
	DK/Ref.	2%	3%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b. Whether the students are engaged in their coursework	Excellent	46%	41%	47%
	Good	46%	47%	46%
	Fair	7%	11%	6%
	Poor	1%	1%	1%
	DK/Ref.	0%	0%	0%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c. The feedback you get from your principal and other administrators	Excellent	20%	19%	19%
	Good	51%	56%	50%
	Fair	22%	24%	21%
	Poor	8%	1%	9%
	DK/Ref.	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
d. How much your students are learning compared with students in other schools	Excellent	26%	16%	28%
	Good	46%	54%	44%
	Fair	21%	27%	20%
	Poor	7%	3%	8%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

Q27. Held for future release

Q28. How effective do you think each of the following proposals would be in terms of improving teacher effectiveness? (RANDOMIZE)?

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a. Requiring new teachers to spend much more time teaching in classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers	Very effective	36%	25%	38%
	Somewhat effective	50%	59%	48%
	Not too effective	11%	11%	11%
	Not effective at all	2%	5%	2%
	DK/Ref.	*	*	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b. Eliminating teacher tenure	Very effective	9%	12%	7%
	Somewhat effective	26%	27%	26%
	Not too effective	32%	39%	30%
	Not effective at all	34%	23%	36%
	DK/Ref.	*	*	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c. Making it easier to terminate ineffective teachers	Very effective	34%	30%	35%
	Somewhat effective	42%	49%	41%
	Not too effective	19%	16%	19%
	Not effective at all	4%	4%	4%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
d. Requiring teachers to pass tough tests of their knowledge of the subjects they are teaching	Very effective	15%	10%	16%
	Somewhat effective	40%	43%	39%
	Not too effective	31%	34%	31%
	Not effective at all	14%	13%	14%
	DK/Ref.	*	*	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
e. Increasing teacher salaries to levels similar to other professional jobs such as lawyers and doctors	Very effective	49%	47%	50%
	Somewhat effective	39%	45%	38%
	Not too effective	10%	8%	10%
	Not effective at all	2%	*	2%
	DK/Ref.	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
f. Reducing class size by approximately 5 students	Very effective	66%	63%	67%
	Somewhat effective	29%	28%	29%
	Not too effective	3%	2%	3%
	Not effective at all	2%	5%	1%
	DK/Ref.	*	2%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
g. Improving professional development opportunities for teachers	Very effective	51%	50%	52%
	Somewhat effective	42%	44%	41%
	Not too effective	6%	6%	5%
	Not effective at all	1%	*	1%
	DK/Ref.	*	*	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
h. Preparing teachers to adapt or vary their instruction to meet the needs of a diverse classroom	Very effective	61%	65%	61%
	Somewhat effective	35%	33%	35%
	Not too effective	3%	*	3
	Not effective at all	1%	1%	1%
	DK/Ref.	1%	*	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
i. Ensuring that students who are severe discipline problems are removed from the classroom and placed in alternative programs more suited to them	Very effective	68%	56%	70%
	Somewhat effective	27%	36%	24%
	Not too effective	5%	7%	4%
	Not effective at all	*	1%	*
	DK/Ref.	1%	*	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
j. Making sure that students in the classroom have roughly the same academic abilities	Very effective	17%	23%	16%
	Somewhat effective	42%	35%	44%
	Not too effective	31%	38%	29%
	Not effective at all	8%	3%	10%
	DK/Ref.	1%	0%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
k. Ensuring that the latest technology is available in each classroom to aid instruction	Very effective	55%	52%	55%
	Somewhat effective	38%	44%	36%
	Not too effective	7%	5%	8%
	Not effective at all	1%	0%	1%
	DK/Ref.	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
l. Tying teacher rewards to their students’ performance	Very effective	8%	10%	8%
	Somewhat effective	24%	39%	21%
	Not too effective	29%	27%	29%
	Not effective at all	38%	24%	41%
	DK/Ref.	*	0%	*

Q29 - Q31. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q32. Which comes closer to your view? (ROTATE 1-2)	Teachers can make a difference in what kids learn and they should be financially rewarded when they succeed. (OR)	22%	28%	20%
	It’s not fair to attach teacher pay to what kids learn when so many things that affect student learning are beyond their control. (OR)	77%	72%	77%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	2%	*	2%

Q33 - Q34. Held for future release

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q35. If some form of performance-based compensation for teachers was implemented at your school, which do you think would be more likely to happen? (RANDOMIZE 1-2) Based on those who teach in schools that do not offer performance pay	Principals would play favorites and reward teachers who are loyal to them or who don’t rock the boat. (OR)	60%	54%	62%
	It would give principals a way to reward the teachers who really help kids learn. (OR)	35%	46%	33%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	5%	*	6%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
Q36. If some form of performance-based pay for teachers was implemented at your school, which do you think would be more likely to happen? (RANDOMIZE 1-2) Based on those who teach in schools that do not offer performance pay	Instead of cooperation, there would be unhealthy competition and jealousy among teachers (OR)	73%	65%	74%
	Teachers would be motivated to work harder and find ways to be more effective (OR)	25%	35%	23%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	2% (n=823)	0% (n=224)	2% (n=593)

Q37.How much do you favor or oppose giving financial incentives or merit pay to each of the following groups of teachers? (RANDOMIZE a-h; ALWAYS ASK i LAST)

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a. Teachers who consistently receive excellent evaluations by their principals	Strongly favor	16%	17%	16%
	Somewhat favor	37%	44%	36%
	Somewhat oppose	20%	18%	21%
	Strongly oppose	26%	19%	27%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b. Teachers who consistently work harder, putting in more time and effort than other teachers	Strongly favor	32%	25%	33%
	Somewhat favor	33%	46%	30%
	Somewhat oppose	13%	15%	13%
	Strongly oppose	20%	13%	21%
	DK/Ref.	2%	1%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c. Teachers whose students routinely score higher than similar students on standardized tests	Strongly favor	11%	7%	12%
	Somewhat favor	35%	33%	35%
	Somewhat oppose	24%	34%	23%
	Strongly oppose	28%	26%	29%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
d. Teachers whose kids consistently show academic growth during the school year	Strongly favor	29%	28%	29%
	Somewhat favor	37%	38%	36%
	Somewhat oppose	13%	18%	12%
	Strongly oppose	20%	15%	21%
	DK/Ref.	2%	1%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
e. Teachers who receive certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards	Strongly favor	22%	25%	21%
	Somewhat favor	38%	45%	37%
	Somewhat oppose	18%	14%	19%
	Strongly oppose	20%	16%	21%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
f. Teachers who specialize in hard-to-fill subjects such as science or mathematics	Strongly favor	16%	11%	18%
	Somewhat favor	33%	33%	33%
	Somewhat oppose	26%	34%	25%
	Strongly oppose	23%	21%	23%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
g. Teachers who teach classes with hard-to-reach students	Strongly favor	27%	25%	28%
	Somewhat favor	41%	44%	40%
	Somewhat oppose	14%	17%	14%
	Strongly oppose	16%	12%	17%
	DK/Ref.	1%	1%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
h. Teachers who work in tough neighborhoods with low performing schools	Strongly favor	31%	24%	33%
	Somewhat favor	40%	44%	40%
	Somewhat oppose	14%	20%	13%
	Strongly oppose	13%	9%	13%
	DK/Ref.	1%	3%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
i. All the teachers in the school if the students routinely score higher than similar students on standardized tests	Strongly favor	21%	20%	21%
	Somewhat favor	35%	36%	35%
	Somewhat oppose	21%	28%	20%
	Strongly oppose	21%	16%	22%
	DK/Ref.	2%	1%	2%

Q38 - Q39. Held for future release

Q40. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (RANDOMIZE)

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a. The union sometimes fights to protect teachers who really should be out of the classroom	Strongly agree	22%	15%	23%
	Somewhat agree	44%	45%	44%
	Somewhat disagree	18%	14%	19%
	Strongly disagree	7%	9%	7%
	(VOL.) N/A	6%	11%	5%
	DK/Ref.	3%	7%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b. Teachers facing unfair charges from parents or students would have nowhere to turn without the union.	Strongly agree	49%	35%	52%
	Somewhat agree	31%	47%	28%
	Somewhat disagree	12%	6%	13%
	Strongly disagree	4%	1%	4%
	(VOL.) N/A	2%	4%	2%
	DK/Ref.	2%	7%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c. Without collective bargaining, the working conditions and salaries of teachers would be much worse.	Strongly agree	51%	36%	54%
	Somewhat agree	29%	38%	26%
	Somewhat disagree	11%	13%	11%
	Strongly disagree	3%	2%	4%
	(VOL.) N/A	3%	5%	3%
	DK/Ref.	2%	7%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
d. Without a union, teachers would be vulnerable to school politics or administrators who abuse their power.	Strongly agree	51%	38%	54%
	Somewhat agree	31%	33%	31%
	Somewhat disagree	10%	11%	9%
	Strongly disagree	4%	3%	4%
	(VOL.) N/A	3%	8%	1%
	DK/Ref.	2%	7%	1%

Q41 - Q42. Held for future release

Q43. For this next series of questions, I’d like you to pretend you were considering transferring to a different school in your district. Would you prefer to move to a school… [RANDOMIZE THE DIFFERENT PAIRS OF ITEMS]

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
a.	To a school that has tenure and a guaranteed raise of three percent each year, but no opportunity for bonuses or merit pay?	74%	67%	75%
	That does not offer tenure and set raises, but teachers can receive extra pay based on the principal’s evaluation and their students’ progress, OR	22%	27%	21%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	4%	6%	4%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
b.	To a school with a standard leadership and salary package, but where you will have more time for your own family and personal life?	64%	67%	63%
	With a very dynamic and supportive principal and better salary potential, but where the teachers tend to work in the evenings and on weekends to keep up with their responsibilities, OR	33%	26%	35%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	3%	7%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
c.	To a school that doesn’t have as much technology, but in which no more than 22 students are ever in one classroom?	57%	64%	56%
	That has cutting-edge technology for both faculty and students and allows you to be innovative with it but class size is generally greater than 22 students, OR	40%	30%	43%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	2%	6%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
d.	Where there is a lot of collaboration among teachers and guidance from other instructional experts in developing lesson plans, OR	67%	68%	67%
	To a school with less collaboration but where teachers are freer to design their own lessons?	30%	26%	31%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	3%	6%	2%

Q44. Held for future release

Demographics


		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D1. Gender	Male	25%	22%	26%
D1. Gender	Female	73%	73%	73%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D2. Do you currently teach in a regular public school, a charter school, a private school or something else?	Public	99%	100%	98%
	Charter	1%	*	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D3. Do you teach at…(READ)	An elementary school,	51%	53%	51%
	A middle or junior high school,	17%	17%	17%
	A high school, OR	27%	28%	27%
	Someplace else? (SPECIFY)	5%	3%	5%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D4. How many years have you been a teacher in the public schools? (READ)	Less than 5 years	5%	25%	*
	5 – 10 years	24%	73%	14%
	11 – 20 years	36%	2%	43%
	More than 20 years	35%	0%	42%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	*	0%	*

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D4b. How many years have you been teaching at your current school? (READ)	Less than 5 years	17%	51%	10%
	5 – 10 years	27%	47%	23%
	11 – 20 years	37%	2%	44%
	More than 20 years	18%	0%	22%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	1%	*	1%

		Total 18-32 / Gen-Y	Total 33+	Undesignated 30+
D5. What is your age? [IF REFUSED AGE] Would you mind telling me if you are under 30 years of age, or age 30 or older?		17%	82%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D6. Have you received accreditation from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards?	Yes	18%	17%	19%
	No	79%	76%	79%
	Don’t know/Refused	3%	7%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D7. In the past five years, have you ever received a financial bonus based on your individual performance?	Yes	8%	7%	8%
	No	90%	88%	91%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D8. Have you participated in any elective professional development programs like college courses, seminars, or conferences that provide you with additional certification?	Yes	83%	83%	83%
	No	14%	12%	15%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D9. What subjects are you currently teaching? (PRECODED OPEN-END) Based on middle or high schoolteachers	Math	23%	23%	23%
	Science	17%	22%	16%
	English	15%	28%	12%
	Social Studies	22%	22%	22%
	Foreign language	5%	2%	5%
	ESL	1%	0%	1%
	Special Ed	8%	3%	9%
	Reading/Language arts	14%	24%	11%
	Other (SPECIFY)	34%	22%	37%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	3%	7%	2%
		(n=505)	(n=112)	(n=388)
	Note: Total may exceed 100% due to multiple responses

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D10. Approximately what is your typical class size? (READ 1-3)	Less than 15	10%	15%	10%
	15-24	54%	52%	54%
	25 or more	32%	26%	34%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	3%	7%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D11. In a typical class, about how many of your students would be classified as having special needs? Would you say… (READ 1-5)	Virtually all	11%	15%	11%
	Most	6%	5%	7%
	Some	42%	35%	43%
	Only a few, OR	37%	37%	37%
	None of your students have special needs?	1%	2%	1%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D12. Approximately what percentage of students in your school are eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program? Would you say…(READ)	25% or under	22%	22%	22%
	26%-50%	29%	30%	29%
	51% or more	45%	41%	45%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	4%	7%	3%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D13. What path did you follow to become a teacher? Did you…(READ)	Receive an undergraduate degree in a four-year college or university program, such as getting a major or minor in education	60%	75%	57%
	Take a 5th year at college or in a university to get a degree in education	10%	4%	11%
	Get a Master’s degree in education	20%	11%	22%
	Take an alternative certification path, OR	6%	3%	6%
	Something else? (SPECIFY)	2%	2%	2%
	(DO NOT READ) Don’t know/Refused	3%	5%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D14. What is the LAST grade or class that you COMPLETED in school? (DO NOT READ)	High School diploma or equivalent/Less than a 4-year college degree	2%	0%	2%
	College graduate (B.S., B.A., or other 4-year degree)	18%	22%	18%
	Some post-graduate training or professional schooling after college (In Master’s or Ph.D program) but no degree	30%	26%	31%
	Masters, PH.D or other higher degree	48%	46%	48%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D15. In college, did you major or minor in the subject area in which you are teaching, or not? Based on middle or high schoolteachers	Yes	79%	78%	80%
	No	19%	16%	20%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	7%	1%
		(n=505)	(n=112)	(n=388)

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D16. Are you teaching any subjects that do not match your current certification or area of study?	Yes	9%	8%	9%
	No	89%	87%	90%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D17. Are you currently a tenured teacher, or not?	Yes	77%	56%	82%
	No	12%	36%	8%
	(VOL.) Does not apply	8%	3%	9%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D18. Thinking about the time you were in high school, would you characterize yourself as…(READ)	An excellent student	37%	42%	36%
	A good student	48%	50%	48%
	A fair student, OR	12%	2%	14%
	A poor student?	1%	*	2%
	Don’t know/Refused	2%	5%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D20. Are you, yourself, of Hispanic or Latino background, such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or some other Spanish background?	Yes	5%	2%	6%
	No	92%	90%	93%
	Don’t know/Refused	3%	8%	1%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D21. What is your race? Are you white, black, Asian, or some other race? IF R SAYS HISPANIC OR LATINO, ASK: Do you consider yourself a WHITE Hispanic/Latino or a BLACK Hispanic/Latino?	White	86%	85%	86%
	Black or African-American	7%	6%	7%
	Asian	2%	*	2%
	Other/Mixed race (SPECIFY)	1%	*	1%
	Don’t know/Refused	4%	9%	3%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D22. Are you married, LIVING as married, divorced, separated, widowed, or have you never been married?	Married	72%	71%	73%
	Living as married	2%	*	2%
	Divorced	8%	0%	10%
	Separated	1%	0%	1%
	Widowed	1%	0%	1%
	Never married/Single	13%	24%	11%
	Don’t know/Refused	3%	5%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D23. Including yourself, how many people are there living in your household?	1 person household	12%	10%	13%
	2 person household	31%	39%	30%
	3 person household	23%	31%	21%
	4 person household	20%	12%	22%
	5 person household	8%	3%	9%
	6 person household	3%	*	3
	7 person household	*	0%	*
	8+ person household	0%	0%	0%
	Don’t know/Refused	3%	5%	2%

		Total	Gen Y	Older Teachers
D24. How many of these people are children, under the age of 18? Based on multi-person households	No children in household	47%	46%	47%
	1 child in household	26%	37%	24%
	2 children in household	18%	14%	20%
	3 children in household	6%	3%	7%
	4 children in household	2%	*	2%
	5 children in household	0%	0%	0%
	6 children in household	0%	0%	0%
	7 children in household	0%	0%	0%
	8+ children in household	0%	0%	0%
	Don’t know/Refused	1%	0%	1%
		(n=731)	(n=185)	(n=542)

The Smart Approach to a Smart Grid

Scott Bittle — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:08:17 -0400

Don't feel bad if your eyes glazed over this story reporting the Obama administration is going to put $3.4 billion behind an upgraded electrical grid – the so-called "smart grid." But it may match the Senate climate change hearings as the most important energy story of the day – and it's no less important when it comes to getting the public on board.

As a discussion topic, the electrical grid combines the excitement of municipal water and sewer systems with the seductive allure of the tax code. Yet our current grid is aging, increasingly overloaded, and not up to the challenges we're going to face.

Here are a few of the things the country won't be able to do unless we upgrade the grid:

Expand wind and solar power. The best places for wind farms, for example, are on the Great Plains, but not that many of us live on the prairie. We need better long-distance lines to carry the power to where it’s needed. Plus, the grid needs to be able to deal with the peaks and valleys in power generation that occur naturally when the wind dies off or the sun goes down.

Move to electric cars. If people are going to start driving cars like the Chevy Volt or the Nissan Leaf, that means less use of oil but more demand on our electricity grid. That means an increase in demand, and maybe making electric charging stations as common as gas stations are now.

Just keep up with demand. Even if relatively little changes about how we get our energy, the country is going to demand more and more of it over the next 20 years. Right now the power grid is already running close to capacity in certain parts of the country, like Southern California and the New York-Washington corridor. A better grid will help avoid summer blackouts and other potential problems.

The "smart grid" would combine the communications power of the Internet with the brute force capacity of the current network. For example, right now the utility knows how much power you’re using, but not necessarily why you’re using it. A smart grid would allow the utility to know much more precisely what was causing a surge in demand, and shift resources to meet it. And technology at your business or home would know the grid was approaching capacity and be able to make its own adjustments, cutting back on the electricity you could afford to give up (say, adjusting your thermostat) while keeping the essential stuff.

Plus, upgrading the grid is about as bipartisan as energy policy gets, with backing ranging from environmental groups to business leaders. So why should the public care? Can't we leave this to the professionals, the power companies and the engineers?

The problem is that upgrading the grid is going to touch a lot of people very closely. Local groups frequently resist new power lines or power plants in their neighborhood. People aren't used to the idea of the power company playing Big Brother with their energy use.

The smart grid is like just about every other aspect of energy policy: it touches people too closely to take public opinion for granted. Policies that seem like no-brainers to the experts can still run afoul of the public if they're not handled right. That's completely avoidable. But it means someone has to take the time to explain the options to people and help them weigh the choices. We've made a start on doing that.

Because if you want people to plug in the smart grid, you've got to take the time to get them to buy in first.

The Number That Matters Most for the Climate Change Debate

Scott Bittle — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:30:12 -0400

As the Senate holds hearings on a major climate change bill this week, you're going to hear a lot of numbers: 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gases, 350 parts per million, and $100 per household. But the best number to focus on may be this one: 55.

Students in the Dominican Republic on 350 Day, part of an international campaign calling for action to reduce greenhouse gases.

That's the percentage of Americans who say they've heard "nothing at all" about cap and trade legislation, according to the Pew Research Center. That didn't get as much attention as another finding in the same survey, that fewer Americans say there's "solid evidence" of global warming, but it may be just as significant to the debate.

In another Pew survey, only 23 percent correctly identified cap-and-trade as having to do with energy and the environment. That jives with the low knowledge levels Public Agenda found in our own research.

That means the public is still a long way from being fully engaged in this issue. You don't have to be an expert to play a role in these decisions, but you do need some basic knowledge in order to follow the discussion. Right now, despite the efforts of activists, we've still got a way to go, and there are still lots of ways this debate can stall or get hijacked.

But there are easy ways to get up to speed on hard choices. The public can play a real part in this debate – if we give them what they need.

Public Engagement: Many Religions, One Community

Francie Grace — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:24:34 -0400

"Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain," a PBS film about a Medieval period of unusual interaction between Muslims, Jews and Christians, is now being used by Public Agenda and the group 20,000 Dialogues for a project to help Americans engage in discussions about interfaith understanding. We have free training materials for civic and religious groups interested in hosting dialogues on the past, present and future of interfaith relations. Click here for more information and for assistance in doing this in your own area.

Inflation On Campus

Francie Grace — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:54:20 -0400

Dig deeper! Tuition and fees are up by about 6.5 percent at public four-year colleges, which are struggling with state budget cuts, and by about 4.4 percent at private colleges, hit by stock market losses in their endowments. The report from the College Board comes as our research shows a majority believes a college degree is both an indispensable ticket to the middle class and increasing numbers of people believe college is financially out of reach for many qualified students. To learn more, see our studies on this issue: Squeeze Play, Campus Commons, The Iron Triangle and Sharing The Dream.

Teaching for a Living

Peiting Chen — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:59:00 -0400

Two out of five of American K-12 teachers appear disheartened and disappointed about their jobs, according to Public Agenda's Teaching for a Living study, conducted with Learning Point Associates and released in association with Education Week.

The research, designed to learn more about how to support and retain the most promising teachers, focuses on questions like why people become teachers, what are their frustrations, and what reforms they think would improve their work.

Our findings include a cluster analysis revealing three distinct groups of teachers: the “Disheartened,” the “Contented,” and the “Idealists.”

This is the first in a series of three reports funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

Click here to see the second report, Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y, released Nov. 2, 2009. For more information, please contact Public Agenda communications manager Melissa Feldsher at mfeldsher@publicagenda.org or 212-686-6610, extension 50.

On Energy, It Takes More Than 'Eureka'

Scott Bittle — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:56:56 -0400

The Wall Street Journal has a big energy section today on "five technologies that could change everything." The Journal backs it up by posing this point:

"Admit it: When you think about our need to be less reliant on nonrenewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting sources of energy, part of you wishes, hopes, believes that technology will come to the rescue."

It's certainly a common enough view – the fact that Americans have faith in technology is nothing new. But surprisingly it's not necessarily a majority. In Public Agenda's Energy Learning Curve, we found 41 percent who believed technology will solve the global warming problem "without requiring major sacrifices." But 48 percent said society would have to make major sacrifices to solve the problem.

That also depends on your definition of sacrifice. Actually bringing any energy technology to market, even the ones we have now, even the ones that sound like "magic bullets," requires some tradeoffs, as you can see in these stories about renewable energy and in the controversy over solar plants in the California desert.

Getting the technology to work is only part of the problem. Whatever choices we make have to be economically viable and publically acceptable. And that's always the hard part.

Teaching for a Living: Voices From The Classroom

Scott Bittle — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:28:49 -0400

Two out of five of America’s teachers appear disheartened and disappointed about their jobs, according to new research released by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates in association with Education Week. The new report probes why people become teachers, their frustrations, and what reforms they favor. We find teachers fall into three groups: the Disheartened, the Contented and the Idealists. Find out more about what this may mean for our schools in Teaching for a Living, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Joyce Foundation.

Forty Percent of America’s K-12 Teachers Appear Disheartened

Peiting Chen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:42:27 -0400

Beyond the Plateau on Math Scores

Scott Bittle — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:52:56 -0400

The latest edition of the "nation's report card" shows that math scores failed to improve for the first time since 1990, and you don't have to have great math skills to know that isn't good enough. But how do we move skills forward?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported this week that fourth-grade math skills have been flat since 2007, after more than 17 years of steady if limited progress. That's prompted a lot of debate over whether this means the federal No Child Left Behind law has stalled, what this may mean for the standards movement in general, and how we teach math in the public schools.

Those are all critical points. Based on Public Agenda's research, we'd suggest one more factor to think about: parents.

Overall, we've found that parents see standards as "necessary, but not sufficient" in raising student achievement. But we've also found a troubling complacency among parents about math and science achievement, in particular. Parents say they're generally satisfied with the math education their children get, and their concern about math and science achievement declined since the mid-1990s. To be fair, that was during a period when NAEP math scores were rising. But parents certainly didn't share the urgency of business and academic leaders, who worry that the U.S. has a lot further to do, and is in danger of losing its edge in math and science.

Our work also suggests ways of closing that urgency gap. In Kansas City, where our public engagement team has worked with local groups on math and science education, we found it helps to"speak the language of opportunity," pointing out the connection between math skills and getting ahead in life.

The other question the new scores raise is how well teachers are performing when it comes to math. NAEP did an intriguing analysis this time based on the training of math teachers: whether they had an undergraduate degree in math or in education.

According to NAEP's analysis, fourth-graders whose teachers reported having an undergraduate major in education scored higher than those with teachers who reported having a minor or not having a degree in education. Eighth-graders with teachers who had an undergraduate major or minor in math scored higher than students whose teachers did not have a major or minor in math.

Our 2007 Lessons Learned survey of first-year teachers had an interesting counterpoint to this. We asked elementary school teachers if they felt "confident and well-prepared" to teach different subjects. This isn't a measure of how well teachers are actually trained – just where they feel confident and where they feel shaky.

There wasn't much difference in reading and math, with 64 percent saying they were "very confident" teaching reading and writing and 61 percent very confident in math. In math, there wasn't any statistically significant difference between alternative certification teachers and those who were traditionally trained (although the alternative certification teachers had unique concerns in other areas, like not getting enough support overall).

For more elementary school teachers, the weak area turned out to be not math, but science, where only 38 percent said they were very confident.

Q14. (From Lessons Learned) How confident and well-prepared are you in each of the following subject areas. (First,) How confident and well-prepared are you in ...?

READ FOR FIRST ITEM, THEN AS NECESSARY: Are you very confident and well-prepared, somewhat confident and well-prepared, not too confident and well-prepared, or not at all confident and well-prepared?

		Very	Somewhat	Not too	Not at all	DK/Ref.	(N)
a. Math	Total	61%	31%	4%	1%	2%	(440)
b. Science	Total	38%	48%	10%	1%	3%	(440)
c. Reading and Writing	Total	64%	30%	4%	*	2%	(440)

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Fuel Type, 2006

Peiting Chen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:21:34 -0400

Fast Facts About Energy

A web extra from Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, authors of
"Who Turned Out The Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis"

The three main fossil fuels all play a role in producing greenhouse gases, but some have a larger role than others. Petroleum has the largest role, and since almost all of our oil is used for transportation, this mostly comes from driving. Coal, by contrast, is used primarily for generating electricity, while natural gas is used for both electricity and home heating. Natural gas is the cleanest of the three, producing 60 percent less carbon dioxide that coal.

DID YOU KNOW ...? FAST FACTS ABOUT ENERGY

Energy consumption exceeds production

Energy consumption per person

Energy consumption per sector

Sources of energy

U.S. dependence on petroleum

Number of vehicles per household

Top suppliers of oil to the U.S.

World oil reserves

World natural gas reserves

World coal reserves

Sources of electricity

World energy demand

World energy demand by source

Carbon Dioxide Emissions: 1990-2004 Selected Countries

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Fuel Type, 2006

<< See Previous Chart |

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Peiting Chen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:15:35 -0400

Fast Facts About Energy

A web extra from Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, authors of
"Who Turned Out The Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis"

Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas, and most countries have been pumping out a lot more of it over the last two decades. There are a few countries that have cut emissions, but no one really wants to follow their lead. Russia and Ukraine saw their economies take a nosedive after the fall of the Soviet Union. A sinking economy produces fewer goods, fewer jobs, and fewer greenhouse gases. There are better examples, however. Britain and France have kept their economies growing and their greenhouse emissions level by changing their energy strategies. France has invested heavily in nuclear power, and Britain has been shifting from coal to cleaner natural gas.

DID YOU KNOW ...? FAST FACTS ABOUT ENERGY

Energy consumption exceeds production

Energy consumption per person

Energy consumption per sector

Sources of energy

U.S. dependence on petroleum

Number of vehicles per household

Top suppliers of oil to the U.S.

World oil reserves

World natural gas reserves

World coal reserves

Sources of electricity

World energy demand

World energy demand by source

Carbon Dioxide Emissions: 1990-2004 Selected Countries

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Fuel Type, 2006

<< See Previous Chart | See Next Chart >>

Teaching for a Living: Methodology

Peiting Chen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:32:39 -0400

Teaching For A Living

Introduction

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Making a Difference

Policy Implications

Full Survey Results

Reasons For Becoming A Teacher

Reasons For Dissatisfaction

Rating Jobs, Schools & Principals

Teachers' Impact On Students

Training, Testing & Tenure

Opinions On Proposed Reforms

Methodology

Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)

See News Release

Join the Discussions

Download This Report (PDF)

Methodology

“Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today” is based on a nationally representative survey of 890 teachers throughout the continental United States. The survey was preceded by six focus groups conducted in sites across the country.

Telephone Survey

The margin of error for the report is plus or minus 4.4 percent. However, it is higher when comparing subgroups or question items that weren’t asked of all respondents.

Sample Design

Questionnaire

Weighting Procedures

Analysis

Focus Groups

Teaching for a Living: Policy Implications

Peiting Chen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:26:55 -0400

Teaching For A Living

Introduction

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Making a Difference

Policy Implications

Full Survey Results

Reasons For Becoming A Teacher

Reasons For Dissatisfaction

Rating Jobs, Schools & Principals

Teachers' Impact On Students

Training, Testing & Tenure

Opinions On Proposed Reforms

Methodology

Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)

See News Release

Join the Discussions

Download This Report (PDF)

Policy Implications

The characteristics and specific views of each group raise important questions for the field. Are the Idealists the best prospects for high-needs schools and for reinvigorating the profession, and what do school leaders need to do to retain them in the field? Given the Idealists’ passion for improving their students’ lives, how can administrators ensure that they have the skills and support to fulfill that goal? More than a third of Idealists voice a desire to move eventually into other jobs in education. How does the field respond to these aspirations?

The Disheartened pose a different challenge. Some may be ill-fitted to the job and ready to move on, but how should the field encourage and support their transition? Others may be good teachers trapped in dysfunctional schools and, in the right environment, might change their views and become Idealists. While these teachers may be helping their students despite their bleak outlook, the researchers point out that it would be hard to believe that these Disheartened teachers are as effective as they could be given their own reports about their situation.

Jean Johnson, an executive vice president of Public Agenda and the director of its Education Insights division, notes that an earlier study with superintendents and principals showed that administrators can fall into two categories: “Copers,” whose main focus is successfully completing the work of each day, and “Transformers,” who aim to change the schools they manage. “One key question from this study is the degree to which the most idealistic teachers could be Transformers, effectively helping struggling students become eager and accomplished learners,” Ms. Johnson said. “Then there are questions about the Disheartened teachers, who generally fall into the coping category. Could good school leadership and better support re-energize them, or would it be better for some portion of them and their students if they found another line of work?” she said.

Teaching for a Living: Making a Difference

Peiting Chen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:22:07 -0400

Teaching For A Living

Introduction

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Making a Difference

Policy Implications

Full Survey Results

Reasons For Becoming A Teacher

Reasons For Dissatisfaction

Rating Jobs, Schools & Principals

Teachers' Impact On Students

Training, Testing & Tenure

Opinions On Proposed Reforms

Methodology

Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)

See News Release

Join the Discussions

Download This Report (PDF)

Making a Difference

At a time of intensifying pressure on teachers to produce results and meet a widening range of social and academic needs, why do teachers say that they go into the profession? According to the “Teaching for a Living” analysis, the differences among these groups are highly significant. For example, “putting underprivileged kids on the path to success” is one of the most important reasons that led Idealists enter the profession, but only 16 percent of the Contented cited it as a top motivation.

As a Denver 5th grade teacher interviewed for the project said: “Good teachers don’t join for the money or bonuses. They join because they want to make a difference.”

A considerable degree of bitterness characterized the Disheartened in comparison to the other groups: Twice as many spoke of likely burnout as did the Contented and Idealists. Only two-fifths strongly agreed that “there is nothing I’d rather be doing” than teaching, compared with nearly two-thirds of the Contented and nearly half of the Idealists.

According to the survey, student-behavior problems and a lack of a supportive administration are the major issues feeding discontent among teachers, alongside the perception of low pay. The groups differ considerably on working conditions and support from principals and other administrators. The Contented were more than twice as likely as the Disheartened (76 percent vs. 28 percent) to say that their schools were orderly and safe and that teachers, administrators, and students respect each other. Likewise, the Contented and the Idealists were four times as likely as the Disheartened to give their principals “excellent” ratings when it comes to supporting them as teachers.

Perceived lack of administrator support, discipline problems, class size, low pay, and lack of prestige loomed as much larger negatives for the Disheartened. Student-behavior problems were seen as major drawbacks to teaching for nearly three-fourths of the Disheartened, compared with one-fourth of the Idealists and 2 in 5 of the Contented, although clearly student discipline was an issue that concerned many teachers. Low salaries and “little prestige” were not top issues, but the Disheartened were much more likely to mention both as major drawbacks to teaching For example, 53 percent cited low pay compared with 26 percent of the Contented and 31 percent of the Idealists.

Beliefs about their students and student potential also differed notably, with potentially significant implications for efforts to reshape the profession. A 22-percentage-point difference separated the Idealists and the Disheartened (88 percent to 66 percent) in their faith that good teachers can make a difference in student learning. Idealists strongly believe that teachers shape student effort (75 percent), whereas just 50 percent of the Disheartened believed that. Only one-third of the more disillusioned teachers were very confident in their students’ learning abilities, compared with nearly half among the other groups (48 percent of the Contented and 45 percent of the Idealists).

Those feelings about teaching, schools, and students influenced perceptions of what steps would be most helpful in improving teacher effectiveness. The Disheartened were more likely to mention higher pay (56 percent, compared with 47 percent of Idealists and 44 percent of the Contented) and removing students with severe behavior problems from the classroom (76 percent, compared with 55 percent of Idealists and 67 percent of the Contented). The Disheartened (70 percent) and the Idealists (69 percent) were more likely to mention smaller classes as a very effective way of improving teaching than the Contented (60 percent)

Teaching for a Living: Three Distinct Sensibilities

Peiting Chen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:17:20 -0400

Teaching For A Living

Introduction

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Making a Difference

Policy Implications

Full Survey Results

Reasons For Becoming A Teacher

Reasons For Dissatisfaction

Rating Jobs, Schools & Principals

Teachers' Impact On Students

Training, Testing & Tenure

Opinions On Proposed Reforms

Methodology

Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)

See News Release

Join the Discussions

Download This Report (PDF)

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Researchers at Public Agenda conducted a cluster analysis of the survey results revealing three distinct groups of teachers. Based on their unique individual characteristics and their attitudes about the profession, teachers naturally fell into three broad categories which researchers call the “Disheartened,” the “Contented,” and the “Idealists.”

The view that teaching is “so demanding, it’s a wonder that more people don’t burn out” is remarkably pervasive, particularly among the Disheartened,—they are twice as likely as other teachers to strongly agree with this view. Members of that group, which accounts for 40 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States, tend to have been teaching longer and are older than the Idealists, and more than half teach in low-income schools. They are more likely to voice high levels of frustration about the school administration, disorder in the classroom, and the undue focus on testing. Only 14 percent rate their principals as “excellent”” at supporting them as teachers, and 61 percent cite lack of support from administrators as a major drawback to teaching. Nearly three-quarters cite “discipline and behavior issues” in the classroom, and 7 in 10 say that testing are major drawbacks as well.

By contrast, the vast majority of teachers in the Contented group (37 percent of teachers overall) view teaching as a lifelong career. Most say their schools are “orderly, safe, and respectful,” and are satisfied with their administrators. Sixty-three percent strongly agree “teaching is exactly what I wanted to do,” and roughly three-fourths feel that they have sufficient time to craft good lesson plans. Those teachers tend to be veterans—94 percent have been teaching for more than 10 years, the majority have graduate degrees, and about two-thirds are teaching in middle-income or affluent schools.

However, it is the Idealists—23 percent of teachers overall—who voice the strongest sense of mission about teaching. Nearly 9 in 10 Idealists believe that “good teachers can lead all students to learn, even those from poor families or who have uninvolved parents.” Idealists overwhelmingly say that helping underprivileged children improve their prospects motivated them to enter the profession (42 percent say it was “one of the most important” factors in their decision, and another 36% say it was a “major” factor). In addition, 54 percent strongly agree that all their students, “given the right support, can go to college,” the highest percentage among any group. More than half are 32 or younger and teach in elementary schools, and 36 percent say that although they intend to stay in education, they do plan to leave classroom teaching for other jobs in the field.

Although the researchers caution that the teachers’ idealism does not necessarily guarantee that they are more effective teachers than their colleagues, half of Idealists believe their students’ test scores have increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a higher percentage than other teachers in the survey.

Teaching for a Living

Peiting Chen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:49:45 -0400

Read press release

Powerpoint Presentation

Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today

By Jean Johnson, Andrew Yarrow, Jonathan Rochkind and Amber Ott

Teaching For A Living

Introduction

Three Distinct Sensibilities

Making a Difference

Policy Implications

Full Survey Results

Reasons For Becoming A Teacher

Reasons For Dissatisfaction

Rating Jobs, Schools & Principals

Teachers' Impact On Students

Training, Testing & Tenure

Opinions On Proposed Reforms

Methodology

Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)

See News Release

Join the Discussions

Download This Report (PDF)

Introduction

Everyone agrees that you can't have good education without good teachers, but how do teachers see their profession? Why do people become teachers, what are their frustrations, and what reforms do they think would improve their work? Public Agenda's newest research, conducted with Learning Point Associates and released in association with Education Week, is designed to learn more about how to support and retain the most promising teachers. We're following up on many of the issues we explored in our 2003 survey, Stand by Me, and our 2007 Lessons Learned reports on first-year teachers, as well as adding new questions to explore the differences between "Gen Y" educators and older teachers. This is the first of three reports, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. Click here for information on the second report in this series, "Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y."

More Coverage From Education Week

Teacher Effectiveness Seen to Be Missing Key Reforms
Experts say merit pay and incentives by themselves will not ensure good teachers for troubled schools.

Study Finds 40 Percent of Teachers 'Disheartened'
Research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates shows a teaching corps made up of three groups with distinct attitudes.

Teacher Beat blog
Your source for the latest news and insights on teacher-related policy and politics

More Public Agenda Research on Teachers

Public Agenda's researchers have been tracking the views of teachers for years. Here are some of our previous studies:

2007 -- Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges and Long-Range Plans

Issue 1: They're Not Little Kids Anymore: The Special Challenges of New Teachers in High Schools and Middle Schools

Issue 2: Working Without a Net: How Teachers from Three Prominent Alternate Route Programs Describe Their First Year on The Job

Issue 3: Teaching In Changing Times

2003 --Stand by Me: What Teachers Really Think About Unions, Merit Pay and Other Professional Matters

Two out of five of America’s 4 million K-12 teachers appear disheartened and disappointed about their jobs, while others express a variety of reasons for contentment with teaching and their current school environments, new research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates shows.

The nationwide study, “Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today,” whose results are being reported here for the first time, offers a comprehensive and nuanced look at how teachers differ in their perspectives on their profession, why they entered teaching, the atmosphere and leadership in their schools, the problems they face, their students and student outcomes, and ideas for reform. Taking a closer look at the nation’s teacher corps based on educators’ attitudes and motivations for teaching provides some notable implications for how to identify, retain, and support the most effective teachers, according to the researchers.

This portrait of American teachers, completed in time for the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, presents a new means for appraising the state of the profession at a time when school reform, approaches to teaching, and student achievement remain high on the nation’s agenda. It also comes as billions of economic-stimulus dollars pour into America’s schools focused on ensuring that effective teachers are distributed among all schools, and Congress will have to consider reauthorization or modification of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act., the nearly 8-year-old latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The study was based on a nationwide survey, with more than 100 questions, of nearly 900 teachers. It was jointly conducted by Public Agenda, a New York City-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research and public-engagement organization, and Learning Point Associates, a nonprofit education research and consulting organization based in Naperville, Ill., that provides direct professional services at the federal, state, and local levels. The work was underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. (Both foundations also provide funding to Editorial Projects in Education and Education Week.)