TN teachers happier with evaluations; testing a burden

Tennessee teachers are more satisfied with working conditions and evaluations, but still feel bogged down by test preparation, according to the state's annual educator survey released Wednesday.

The results from the report by the Tennessee Department of Education show a number of positives for the state of education in Tennessee, but also includes a need for some changes.

The education department worked with Vanderbilt University's Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development to deliver the survey to teachers and administrators. About 60 percent of teachers and administrators statewide responded, up 18 percent from last year.

Highlights from the survey:

- Teachers are more satisfied with working conditions, but need more time for collaboration.

The majority of teachers reported they like working at their schools, feel appreciated and school leaders honor their teaching time. Additionally, the vast majority of teachers remain in Tennessee schools year to year - about 91 percent.

Nearly 80 percent reported that they like working at their schools, up from 67 percent in 2013. The percentage of teachers who believe that the "stress and disappointments involved in teaching at this school aren't worth it" has decreased from 29 percent in 2012 to 20 percent in 2015.

Only 33 percent of teachers said they had adequate access to informational resources or staff expertise and 38 percent rated their time to collaborate as adequate. Teachers rated collaboration with peers as the most important factor contributing to their improvement.

- Teacher evaluations are too time consuming, but helpful

The majority said the teacher evaluation process is fair and improves teaching and learning, but about half said the process is a burden.

Sixty-eight percent said the evaluation process improves teaching and 63 percent said it improves learning. When the evaluation system rolled out in 2012, only 38 percent said the evaluations improved teaching, while 28 percent said it improved student learning.

On a scale of 1 to 5, 52 percent rated the burden of the evaluation system as a 4 or 5.

- Teachers say test preparation is too time consuming

For a second consecutive year, more than 60 percent said they spend too much instructional time helping students prepare for statewide exams and 70 percent said students spend too much time taking standardized tests.

However, more teachers report using test data to help tailor their teaching. Half use test data to identify areas where they need to strengthen their content knowledge or teaching skills, up from one-quarter in 2014. They're also more likely to use student assessment data to collaborate and learn from their peers.

Reach Melanie Balakit at 615-926-1638 and on Twitter @MelanieBalakit.