NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More than half of all teachers surveyed across Tennessee said student attendance was the biggest concern during the 2021 - 2022 school year, according to results of the 2022 Tennessee Educator Survey released on Friday.
The Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance worked together on the survey. It included more than 39,000 educators — more than half of all the state's educators, according to a release from TDOE.
A quarter of all teachers surveyed also said their biggest issue during the school year was adapting to staff and student quarantines, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost half of all teachers also said they were still able to stay on track with their curriculum.
Around 61% of teachers also said they felt their college or university did not prepare them to teach in a virtual setting. Almost three-quarters of all surveyed teachers said they had a mentor in their first year of teaching.
Around 18% of teachers also said they did not think there was an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect at their school. Around 30% said they did not think students treated "adults with respect at this school." Around 26% of all surveyed educators said they did not like how their school was run, too.
However, 83% said they thought the principal at their school communicates a clear vision. At the same time, the results showed 33% of surveyed educators did not think their school's leader "regularly models effective instruction."
Around 32% also said they did not think their school's leadership effectively handled student discipline and behavioral problems.
Around 40% of teachers said they did not think their individual planning time was sufficient for their jobs. Around 65% of teachers said they spend at least four hours per week creating or sourcing materials to use for classroom instruction, including planning time outside of school hours.
Around 70% of teachers said they receive less than an hour of planning time per week. Around 41% of teachers said they did not have adequate to prepare individualized instruction.
Around three-quarters of all teachers said they are able to focus on teaching students with minimal interruptions. However, around 55% of all teachers said they had challenges supporting students with disabilities due to "disruptions to the classroom environment and flow of teaching."
Around 34% of teachers surveyed said they did not remember if they received training on the teacher code of ethics during their preparation program, and 11% said they did not receive training. Around half of all surveyed teachers said they started college wanting to pursue a career in education.
Around a third of teachers also said their preparation program did not include career counseling or help with financial planning.
More than a quarter of teachers also said they did not feel like their schools prepared them to teach science, social studies, fine arts or writing readiness. A third of Pre-K teachers also said they did not feel like they had opportunities to get professional development or support specific to the state-approved curriculum.
Around 67% of Pre-K teachers also said they "supplement the primary curriculum to differentiate lessons" for students. Almost 80% of Pre-K teachers said they did not observe a coach or peer model a lesson for them this year.
Since the summer of 2021, around 28% of teachers also said they spent more than 40 hours in formal development opportunities like workshops, webinars or conferences. However, around 33% said they did not have one-on-one mentoring, coaching or partnerships.
Around 32% also said they did not feel like they had the tools to assess deficits in student behavior.
Results were not available in Knox County because fewer than 45% of teachers in the district responded to the survey.