Do your children’s teachers like where they work? See survey results for NC schools.
North Carolina parents can now find out how happy or not teachers are at their child’s public school.
The 2020 results of the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey were released on Wednesday. More than 102,000 teachers, principals, assistant principals and other school-based educators answered a wide-ranging series of questions on areas such as time, facilities, resource, school conduct and safety, leadership and support.
The public can look up the results at a statewide, school district and individual school level at http://asqnc.com. Most schools had enough educators respond to report individual school totals.
The survey is conducted every two years, but the closure of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic complicated efforts this year. The state received responses from 84.45% of respondents, lower than in 2018.
The results are used by school leaders. It’s not uncommon for principals to be replaced at schools where teachers report poor working conditions.
“People believe it is going to be used,” said State Board of Education member JB Buxton. “People believe school leaders and policy makers are going to look at what teachers are saying and pay attention to teacher voice and principal voice in looking at policy decisions and how to improve schools.”
Here’s a look at some of the results from the survey:
More teachers complain about student conduct
Fewer North Carolina teachers feel student conduct is being managed well at school.
Teachers who felt that students at their school follow the rules of conduct has dropped from 70% in 2016 to 65% in 2018 and to 62% this year.
On whether school administrators consistently enforce rules for student conduct, the percentage of teachers who agree dropped from 72% in 2016 to 69% in 2016 to 66% this year.
More than three-quarters of teachers felt school administrators support their efforts to maintain discipline in their classrooms and that teachers consistently enforce rules for student conduct. But the percentage is lower than in 2016 or 2018.
But 89% of educators said they felt the faculty work in a school environment that is safe,. That’s the same as in 2018 but down from 93% in 2016.
The rising concerns about student conduct occur at the same time there’s been a statewide drop in suspensions as schools look for alternatives to removing students from campus.
Teachers rate schools on safety and equity
New questions were asked this year about equity and school safety.
▪ At this school, all students are treated equitably, justly and fairly — 78%
▪ School rules are equitably applied to all students — 71%
▪ Physical conflicts among students rarely happen at school — 64%
▪ Bullying is not a frequent problem at this school — 58%
▪ Cyberbullying is not a frequent problem among students at this school — 63%
▪ At this school, students are not bullied about their race — 73%
Are teachers happy where they work?
Teachers were asked to rate their school’s leadership and whether they felt they were working in a good place. It’s a red flag for school districts when they see results at individual schools that are much lower than the district average.
Statewide, 79% of educators said school leadership consistently supports teachers. That’s unchanged from 2018.
In the Triangle, 77% of Wake County educators said school leadership consistently supports teachers. It’s 79% in Orange County, 78% in Johnston County, 77% in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City and 75% in Durham.
Statewide, 86% of educators said their school is a good place to work and learn. That’s down from 87% in 2018.
In the Triangle, 86% of Wake County educators said their school is a good place to work and learn. It’s 91% in Orange County, 89% in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, 87% in Johnston County and 85% in Durham.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Do your children’s teachers like where they work? See survey results for NC schools.."
