Voices from the Classroom 2020: A Survey of America’s Educators


Research Rundown Issue: February '20
Publisher: Educators For Excellence
Date Published: January '20


Description

Developed by 10 teachers from around the country, Voices from the Classroom is a nationally representative survey that captures views and opinions of educators on several education issues like teacher preparation, school climate, assessments, and more. One major finding: 88% of teachers believe programs are falling short of preparing teachers for the realities of the classroom, with a substantial portion indicating that they did not receive training in areas that they think are “critically important” to their work in the classroom. Importantly, less than half of teachers think their preparation programs were “very effective” in preparing them to provide rigorous and culturally relevant instruction, support student social-emotional need, engage families, differentiate instruction, and create assessments that accurately capture student learning.

Why This Matters in Minnesota

The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) is currently working to amend the Standards of Effective Practice—the core set of knowledge and skills that all teacher candidates in Minnesota teacher preparation programs learn. As PELSB amends these standards, it’s imperative that they listen to the voices of educators and work to ensure that the SEPs are comprehensive and will prepare teacher candidates to meet the needs of all students, and particularly those who have been historically underserved.

Check out the survey results