Teachers are under an enormous amount of pressure. Most have little say regarding curriculum and key decisions that affect their school day. Administration is constantly telling teachers what to do and only listening to their suggestions when their views are aligned. Current teachers are asking for more teachers to be hired, less curriculum change, less administrative demands on their time, and more time to focus on teaching. Many feel they do not have adequate support, do have too many areas on which to focus, and have unending non-educational duties associated with their jobs. Parents have noticed these trends as well. Both parents and teachers made similar comments on the Perception Surveys in regards to class size and teacher workloads.
Some of the responses from the 2020-2021 Staff Perception Survey actually made me feel stressed out. Teachers said they want smaller class sizes, and fewer changes in technology and curriculum. Once they figure out how to work with some new device or educational program, it gets changed again. There is little consistency and time to breathe. It is evident in reading the responses of these teachers. They are exhausted.
Here are some comments from the staff perception surveys.
“Our teachers are overwhelmed due to the increasingly large number of students needing intervention/counseling etc.”
“With so much curriculum piled on us (reading, writing, math, word study, science/social studies and now all the intervention programs), teachers are forced to pick and choose what they can actually accomplish.”
“Telling us we need to prioritize self-care is not solving our problems, it’s adding one more thing to our plate.”
“It doesn't help students to keep pushing curriculum if they are struggling!!”
“Stop adding more stuff for teachers to do”
“We need more people to meets the needs of students. Classroom teachers can't do everything.”
Here are some comments from the Parent Perception Surveys.
“Class sizes are way too big. Teachers need more support.”
“I would like to see a professionally staffed writing lab at the high school, similar to the math lab. Given the emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, analysis, and writing at the college level, this would be very beneficial. I would like to see smaller class sizes overall. It was nice this year to have more one-on-one attention for students with many being virtual. We should be hiring teachers and prioritizing smaller class sizes at the secondary levels. We do so much intervention for struggling students, but what about the average and above average kids?”
“Reading/phonics curriculum is awful. My children either hate reading or struggled to get the hang of it. Picking up a piece to read/write and starting something else the next day is not a great habit to teach. Please consider a better choice in curriculum for better student success.”
“Let them [teachers] teach. Train them, trust them and free up their classroom time to focus on what they are hired to teach -reading, math, science, etc. More is not always better.”
“I am friends with many of your awesome teachers. They are exhausted and overwhelmed and I believe your focus as a district must be on building them up, increasing parent involvement (to build bridges and trust both ways) and offer them more freedom to teach in the unique gifting that each of them possesses.More and more is being placed on our teachers and they are burning out. Simplify and give teachers the one thing they need more than anything else... time, so they can truly focus on their classrooms, their mental health, and helping their students rather than juggling multiple district initiatives”
One thing that was surprising reading the Staff Perception Survey from 2020-21 was there were several teachers who seemed to actually enjoy teaching while Covid restrictions were in place. While survey comments from previous years asked for smaller class sizes and more teacher aids, comments from 2020-21 suggested fewer academic requirements allowed them to focus on foundational skills. In addition, Covid protocols reduced behavioral issues thereby allowing teachers to spend more time on academics. Here are three comments that show this point of view.
“Students and staff feel safe. We have had very few behavior issues this year.”
“Remote learning was NOT a total failure. Students grasped many self-improvement behaviors beyond what we usually see in this grade. They had time and energy to ask us questions and we had time to respond. Small groups were not interrupted so essential skills could develop further (class size matters!) I was able to help kids for an hour or 2 because that time was baked in to the schedule. The ease up on curriculum expectations actually FURTHERED their growth because we laser focused on essentials and gave more flexibility for student choice & participation. My SES wellness is much improved due to colleagues being willing to listen and adjust with less ego and control. Everyone realizing you could NOT function at the previous level made us more tolerant and BETTER at real reflection.”
“For the first time EVER in my career, I feel like I have the time to do my job. Academy helps so much. I can make appointments for kids to come in and get extra help, I can support my homeroom group, and I have time to grade essays during the school day (which was always almost exclusively done on my personal time and at the expense of family time). Classes being slightly smaller helps too. Keep academy please. Keep class sizes small - writing labs & class discussions are much more effective. Keep mutual planning periods, if possible, for PLCs to work together. Keep recognizing individual staff members to improve morale - it creates such a positive dynamic of support.”
Teachers want to focus on key topics and fundamental skills and cut out all of the extras. They want fewer curriculum changes and fewer items on their to-do lists. It simple. They want…..
Quality Over Quantity!