Measuring Affective Characteristics | Teacher Quality Survey

Post date: Apr 11, 2014 12:5:6 PM

VALIDITY OF SCORE INTERPRETATIONS

States, school districts and administrators are looking for ways to improve the teaching career, recruit new teachers, provide motivation and promote morale. Based on social cognitive theory, the purpose of this project was to examine the effects of demographic and psychosocial factors involved in Preschool – 12^th Grade teachers’ job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 68 schoolteachers. Respondents were polled on the grade they teach, sex, age, number of years teaching and top 3 work motivators. There was also an optional text box for teachers to add their thoughts, opinions or ideas on the subject of teacher quality.

Social cognitive theory refers to a physiological model of behavior the developed from the work of Albert Bandura (1977) and asserts that learning occurs in a social context. In this study, the teacher is the environmental determinant that directly affects student learning. If educators are frustrated, overwhelmed and unhappy in their work environment, student achievement will be negatively affected. The demographic variety of poll respondents, in addition to the main question about teacher motivation, provided validity of score interpretations.

INSTRUMENTS

The instrument used in the survey was a custom designed Google form built on Google Drive. A survey link was posted on a personal Facebook page where teachers were asked to take a “Teacher Quality Poll” and provide optional feedback. There were five required questions in the survey and one optional question. The first four questions were basic demographic information asked in a multiple-choice format. The demographic questions were:

1. What grade do you teach?

2. Are you male or female?

3. How old are you?

4. How many years have you been teaching?

The fifth required question, “Identify your top 3 work motivators” was the main question and the respondents were given a list of 9 options to choose from. The last optional survey question asked the teachers to add their thoughts, opinion or ideas on the subject of teacher quality. A screenshot of the poll is shown below.

REPORTING OF RESULTS

The screenshots below summarize the responses from the five required survey questions.

The results of the survey showed that the top 3 work motivators for teachers are bonus money (16%), educational tools for their classroom (15%) and a revision to the current teacher evaluation system (14%). While the bottom 3 work motivators for teachers are college tuition reimbursement (7%), classroom aide (8%) and a revision of curriculum standards (8%).

After a more in-depth study of the individual response data, the following interesting conclusions were made:

· 67% of teachers with more than 30 years of experience in the classroom felt that current teacher evaluation system needs revision while only 25% of teachers with 0-5 years agreed with that statement.

· 57% in the 41+ age group choose bonus money as a motivator.

· 55% of teachers in the 20 – 40 age group choose bonus money as a motivator.

· 52% of 31 – 40 year old teachers choose money as a motivator.

· 38% of the Pre-K and 38% of 7-12^th grade teachers choose praise and gratitude from administrators as motivation.

· 26% of the younger teachers choose better retirement benefits as opposed to 47% of the older teachers who choose that option.

· 31% of teachers teaching between 0-5 years choose college tuition reimbursement as a motivator and 66% in the same age bracket choose bonus money as a motivator.

· The 2 male respondents choose revised curriculum standards and flex time as motivators.

After reading the anonymous personal responses from the teachers, it is evident that teachers are feeling very frustrated. It is heartbreaking to read the responses and see that many truly love the act of teaching but feel unappreciated as an employee. It is obvious that many teachers are unhappy with the current education system and how they are being treated. According to social cognitive theory, learning is affected by environmental factors. So, is teacher morale affecting student academics? Or, are they harboring it during the day and taking it home to their family? Do teachers nowadays have more mental health issues? Will teachers begin leaving the career early causing a shortage of qualified educators? An additional study of teacher quality will be needed to answer these questions.

In the meantime, it is vital that education stakeholders become aware of the issue of teacher quality. They need to listen to teachers and make appropriate changes to the system before it gets worse. The survey revealed that increasing teacher pay, providing additional educational resources and revising the current teacher evaluation system would motivate teachers to work harder. Inevitably, it would improve teacher morale and create a more positive learning environment for students. Teachers play such an important role in the academic and emotional lives of their students. One priority that needs to take precedent in educational reform is teacher quality.

CITATIONS

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Briones, E., Tabernero, C., & Arenas, A. (2010). Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Teachers: Effect of Demographic and Psycho-Social Factors. Revista De Psicologia Del Trabajo Y De Las Organizaciones,26(2), 115-122. doi:10.5093/tr2010v26n2a3