State of the Teaching Profession Survey Results

How education has changed

Compared to when you were in the grade or grades you are teaching today, how would you compare:

		Better back then			Better today
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
students' respect for teachers	3.9	35	30	23	8	3	1
parents' respect for teachers	3.8	32	30	24	9	3	2
student behaviour and social skills	3.7	27	32	27	9	4	2
the quality of family life for students	3.7	27	32	26	8	4	3
respect for education in society	3.6	25	26	28	14	5	2
violence among students	3.5	26	26	27	12	7	2
basic spelling skills	3.4	19	25	35	11	6	3
basic writing skills	3.4	13	23	33	19	10	3
basic math skills	3.0	12	18	35	19	11	5
teacher-parent relations	3.0	11	22	35	19	10	3
basic reading skills	3.0	10	19	38	18	12	3
conflict between ethnic or recial groups at school	3.0	10	16	32	16	12	14
teachers' devotion to their craft and profession	2.7	5	10	46	24	11	3
the quality of the facility you work in	2.5	8	13	29	22	26	2
the quality of teaching in your school	2.4	4	11	30	29	22	5
the quality of textbooks and other resources	2.3	7	9	21	26	35	2

What are the most important changes in what teachers do that parents should be aware of but are not?

work outside the classroom social work/parenting curriculum teaching/assessment strategies dealing with students' individual needs other DNK (do not know/no opinion)

Do you feel parents' understanding of their childs' classroom experience is guided by memories of their own classroom and school experience?

MEAN 3.8

Should the College do more to imform the public about teachers' work?

MEAN 4.1

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Student success factors

Score each of the following as helpful or harmful to student learning and education:

		Very helpful			Very harmful
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
school sports or clubs	4.3	54	31	11	3	2	*
the Internet	3.1	11	25	39	17	8	1
part-time jobs	2.9	6	16	45	22	8	3
student travel time to and from school	2.8	6	10	49	25	8	2
TV	2.5	2	7	42	34	14	*
computer games	2.4	4	9	30	36	21	*
pressure to have sex	2.0	2	4	24	27	38	5
pressure to take drugs	1.7	2	3	16	23	54	3
family stress or breakdown	1.6	3	4	7	23	63	1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Of the students from different ethnic/multicultural backgrounds, which of the following, if any, best describes the relationships among them?

	All	Elementary School Students	Secondary School Students	Other*
a lot of mingling and integration	42	50	27	38
a mixture of mingling and also standing apart	30	28	36	28
a lot of ethnic or cultural separation but no real conflict	12	8	19	13
a lot of ethnic or cultural separation and some suspicion and conflict	5	3	9	6
a lot of suspicion and some hostility	3	2	3	4
a lot of hostility	1	1	1	1
don't know or no opinion	7	8	5	10

* Other includes principal/vice-principal, supervisory officer, directors of education, faculty of education professor, seconded staff and occasional teacher.

Of the students you taught in 2005-06, what percentage:

	%
were below grade level in reading	27
had special needs or required extra accommodation or compensating strategies	26
were identified as Special Education students	20
had limited language proficiency	19
enrolled in your class after the start of the school year	9
were in your class at the start of the school year but were no longer in your class by the end of the year	7

Score the following in terms of helping your students to be successful in school.

		Very helpful			Not very helpful
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
better study habits	4.6	67	26	5	1	*	*
better sleeping habits	4.6	66	26	5	1	1	*
better eating habits	4.5	57	32	10	1	*	*
more exercise	4.4	56	32	10	2	1	*
more parental involvement with the student's education	4.4	56	30	12	1	1	*
more time with family	4.4	50	36	12	1	*	*
more time with teacher	4.1	41	34	20	3	2	*
more parent/teacher communication	4.1	40	34	22	3	1	*
more choice in course selection	3.7	24	32	29	8	3	4

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

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Teachers and parents

Rate your school on the following:

		Strongly agree			Strongly disagree
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
Your school does a good job of encouraging parent involvement.	4.1	41	35	15	6	2	2
The physical condition of your school building is welcoming to parents.	3.9	37	31	17	8	6	2
Your school involves parents in decisions at the school that affect their own children.	3.9	32	33	23	7	2	2
Parents feel that the school does a good job of encouraging parent involvement.	3.9	27	39	22	7	2	4
Your school contacts parents only when there is a problem with their child.	2.6	9	17	21	23	28	3

How many parents:

	%
attend parent-teacher conferences	58
collaborate when told their children are struggling in school	54
make sure homework is done	45
involve their children in educational activities like reading with them, taking them to museums, etc.	37
participate in school fundraising projects	35
go on school field trips	22
participate in school councils	14

Overall, teachers give their education training a failing grade when it comes to preparing them for dealing with parents. When requested to give a grade to their faculties of education in preparing them to work with parents, teachers gave an average score of 45.

Score education training for preparing you to work well with parents on a 100-point scale.

	Score
Mean	45
under 35	53
35-49	43
50+	45

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Sex and age of consent

The federal government has introduced legislation that would increase the age of consent from 14 to 16, making it a criminal offence for an adult to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16 years old.

To what extent to do you agree with this legislation?

MEAN 4.5

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Council election

As you may know the Ontario College of Teachers will be holding Council elections this fall.

Will you vote?

definitely will likely will likely will not definitely will not DNK (do not know/no opinion)

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Career Plans

Considering how your career might develop over the next five years, rate the likelihood of you:

	A	B	C	D	*	DNK
becoming a department head or divisional leader	12	23	14	42	7	2
becoming a school principal or vice-principal	5	13	17	61	3	2
becoming a board consultant or working for the Ministry of Education	3	23	21	50	2	2
working as a supply teacher	13	12	9	54	12	1
moving to a private school	2	12	13	69	2	1
leaving teching for another occupation	4	11	15	68	1	1
retiring	13	6	5	67	10	0
taking a parental leave, sabbatical or other leave	12	17	11	55	3	2

1. very
2. somewhat
3. not really
4. not at all

* Respondent already holds this position or higher.

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Satisfaction and stress

How much confidence do you have in the following:

		A lot of confidence			Very little confidence
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
the job you are personally doing	4.5	59	32	6	1	*	2
the school you work in	4.3	45	36	12	2	1	4
the teaching profession as a whole	4.1	29	51	17	2	*	1
the quality of Ontario's education system	3.8	16	51	26	5	1	1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Thinking about stress in your work, how often do you feel really stressed?

all the time a few times each week about once a month a few times a year once a year or less often never

How much satisfaction do you get from each of the following elements of teaching:

		Very satisfiied			Very dissatisfied
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
seeing your students do well in courses	4.8	80	16	3	*	*	1
feeling that your job is meaningful	4.7	74	20	5	1	0	*
helping students prepare for success in adult life	4.7	73	21	5	*	*	*
imparting knowledge	4.6	68	26	5	1	*	*
working collaboratively with colleagues	4.4	58	31	8	2	1	*
adding to your subject-matter knowledge	4.4	56	34	9	1	1	*
adding to your teaching skills	4.4	56	33	9	1	1	0
participating in extracurricular activities at school	4.2	44	34	15	3	2	2
receiving thanks from parents of students	4.0	44	27	18	7	3	1
receiving public recognition	3.3	20	23	32	15	9	1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

How stressful do you find each of the following aspects of teaching?

		Very stressful			Not at all stressful
	MEAN	5	4	3	2	1	DNK
time constraints	3.8	32	29	23	10	5	1
parents blaming you for their child's underperformance	3.6	34	22	19	13	8	3
school politics	3.3	23	23	26	18	9	2
teacher performance appraisal	3.3	22	23	25	16	13	2
students who come from dysfunctional homes	3.3	16	29	28	18	8	1
getting appropriate resources and materials	3.1	13	24	31	20	11	1
government educational policies	3.1	13	22	34	19	10	2
preparing students for exams / EQAO assessment	3.0	12	19	29	20	12	8
maintaining order and discipline in the school	2.9	10	19	31	26	13	1
teaching students with special needs	2.8	9	20	28	26	16	1
maintaining classroom order and discipline	2.7	5	18	32	28	17	1
parents with concerns about their child's progress	2.7	5	18	32	28	17	1
school board	2.6	8	13	31	23	22	3
parent-teacher interviews	2.6	6	17	26	28	20	2
teaching students new to Canada for whom English or French is a second language	2.6	6	16	24	22	20	12
interaction with other teachers in your school	1.9	3	8	15	27	47	*

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Would you advise someone about to enter university to consider teaching as a career?

yes no DNK (do not know/no opinion)

How satisfied are you with teaching as a career?

MEAN 4.3 * greater than zero and less than 0.5