Teacher Job Satisfaction Over Time: 2003–2004, 2007–2008, and 2011–2012

• In Event: 33.038 - National and International Perspectives on Teacher Satisfaction and Working Conditions

Abstract

Objectives

This study examines nationally representative data to provide evidence pertaining to teachers’ job satisfaction in public and private schools in 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12, overall and by select teacher and school characteristics.

Theoretical Perspective

With more than 3.5 million K-12 teachers teaching about 55 million students in the U.S., concerns about satisfaction of the teacher workforce warrant attention. Additionally, recent education policies, such as the increase in high-stakes accountability policies and the use of student test scores to measure teacher performance, may have increasingly affected teachers’ job satisfaction over time. Indeed, some popular measures, such as the 2013 MetLife Survey, suggest that teacher job satisfaction is lower than it was in the 1980’s.

Research has also demonstrated how teachers’ job satisfaction is important for students and schools. Previous research has demonstrated that less satisfied teachers and teachers with negative perceptions of working conditions are more likely to leave their positions (Ingersoll & May, 2010; Ladd, 2011). Because teacher attrition can harm student performance (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013), discussions of student achievement should include research about teachers’ satisfaction and the educator and school characteristics associated with it.

Data and Methods

For these analyses we use data from three waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics. Using data from the 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12 school years, we examine how teachers’ perceptions of job satisfaction have changed over time. We examine the satisfaction of public and private school teachers separately. Within years we examine job satisfaction by teacher and school characteristics, and further how these relationships have changed over time.

The Study

This study addresses three research questions:
1.) How has teacher job satisfaction changed between 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12 in public and private schools?
2.) How does teachers’ job satisfaction differ by teacher and school characteristics?
3.) How has the relationship between job satisfaction and teacher and school characteristics changed over time?

Results

Our analyses show that, contrary to some expectations, teachers’ job satisfaction is generally high and has been relatively stable during the period examined. Our results echo previous research and find substantial differences in satisfaction by school-student compositions in public schools, and by school sector. Our analyses show that school characteristics such as student behavior, parent support, and perceptions about school administrative support are all related to public school teachers’ job satisfaction; the most influential of these and the one that is growing in influence over time is administrative support.

Conclusion and Significance

These findings are policy relevant. First, these results show no measurable declines in teacher job satisfaction over a period of several years that has witnessed substantial education policy reforms that potentially impacted teachers’ work experiences. In addition, these analyses indicate that one of the increasingly important influences on teacher satisfaction relates to the support of school administrators. Not only do these analyses examine changes over time in these influences, they highlight one that can be addressed by policy.

Authors

• Nat N. Malkus, American Institutes for Research

• Dinah Sparks, Activate Research, Inc.