April 20, 2006
Gov. Sebelius announces results of survey of Kansas teachers
Kansas schools can access data to assess and improve teacher working conditions
Schools are key to Kansans’ continued prosperity, and key to every successful student is a good teacher. Seeking to recruit and retain quality teachers, Governor Sebelius today released preliminary results from a survey of more than 21,000 Kansas teachers and administrators on working conditions in Kansas schools.
The 2006 Kansas Teacher Working Condition Survey asked teachers and education professionals to assess school conditions in the areas of time, professional development, facilities and resources, school leadership and teacher empowerment.
More than twenty-one thousand professionals from virtually every district responded and sufficient responses were recorded to provide data for almost 1,000 schools and more than 200 districts across the state.
Under the leadership of Governor Sebelius in partnership with the Kansas Nation Education Association and the United School Administrators of Kansas, Kansas became just the second state to release school data from such an initiative, with as many as a dozen additional states following the state’s lead over the next year.
By releasing the survey results, individual schools and districts will have reliable data regarding their own teachers’ perspective on their working conditions and the impact of these conditions on teacher retention. The data allows individual schools and communities to consider appropriate policies and programs to address the unique concerns of their teachers.
“Kansas teachers must have the resources and support they need to serve all students well, and these survey results show many areas where we are creating outstanding learning environments, but also highlight a few areas where we can work toward improvement,” said Sebelius.
Initial findings from the 2006 Kansas Teacher Working Conditions Survey indicate many positive trends:
- 79 percent of educators agree their school is a good place to work and learn;
- 87 percent of Kansas educators believe faculty are committed to helping every student learn;
- 85 percent believe their schools are safe; and
- 86 percent say their goal is to stay at their current school.
The survey results also indicate some critical areas where teachers need additional support to be successful, namely time for teachers to plan and work collaboratively. Time was the condition that educators believed had the greatest impact on student learning, but was the area of the survey where teacher perceptions were most negative.
Results stated:
- Only 39 percent of educators believe non-instructional time they receive is sufficient;
- 55 percent of teachers believe their class sizes are reasonable and afford them time to meet the educational needs of all students; and
- 51 percent said they needed additional support to improve working with special education students and 47 percent want to enhance their knowledge and skills around closing the achievement gap.
The Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) helped conduct the survey and will provide more-in depth analyses correlating results to student achievement gains and teacher retention rates.
Eric Hirsch, Executive Director of CTQ, said the group is conducting statewide and pilot working condition surveys across the country and the 52 percent statewide response in Kansas is the highest statewide response to date.
Hirsch said, “Kansas will benefit from a Governor and education stakeholders with the foresight to ask educators about teacher working conditions that influence student learning. Such a great response rate will provide a wealth of data at the state level and almost 1,000 schools with information they can use to improve.”
Along with the data results, Governor Sebelius, KNEA, and CTQ are also working to develop a set of tools and supports to help schools move toward action on these issues.
Helping schools make working conditions part of school improvement plans, recognizing best practices around working conditions, and promoting tools like the working conditions toolkit (www.teacherworkingconditions.org) should help move schools from understanding toward sustainable reform. Additional outreach and support will be provided to help ensure that this data is used to make all schools in Kansas are great places to work and learn.
