Teachers TeLL Their Needs by Mark L. Gray, Executive Director Maine Education Association If the Maine Education Association is to realize its vision of "Leading the Way to Great Public Schools for Every Maine Student," it is important to get a deeper understanding of what constitutes a "Great Public School." What are the working and learning conditions that must exist in order to realize great public schools in Maine? In an effort to gather information in order to answer this question, MEA teamed up with the Maine Department of Education (MDoE), the New Teacher Center at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and with the NEA to conduct a statewide perceptual survey of teachers and principals across the state. The results of the "Teaching, Leading & Learning" or TeLL survey are now available at the state level, with more specific data available for school buildings and school districts that met the minimum 40% participation rate. Completed by more than 5,000 educators from across the State, these data provide a statewide snapshot of the teaching and learning conditions that exist in Maine’s schools as viewed by those who understand these conditions best – the professional educators who teach and work in our schools every day. Of those completing this survey, 71% said their schools were good places to work and learn while 85% said they wanted to continue working in their school. That was the good news. On the other hand, more work needs to be done to improve school leadership and to create trusting and respectful working environments. Specifically, three areas stand out as needing immediate attention. 1. "Educators must be empowered to use their time more effectively." 61% of professional educators said that the non-instructional time provided for teachers in their school is not sufficient. 57% said they do not have adequate time to collaborate with their colleagues. 51% said teachers are not involved in making decisions about educational issues. And, 45% said that the faculty in their school does not have an effective process for making group decisions or solving problems. 2. "Professional development must become a strategic priority as a means of improving educator effectiveness." 63% of the respondents believe they have no role or only a small role in determining the content of in-service professional development programs. 48% said they did not receive adequate follow-up from professional development activities to help them improve their teaching. And, with all of the emphasis in our State over the past several years on technology, 47% of educators still said they did not have sufficient training and support to fully utilize the instructional technology that was made available to them. 3. "School leadership must become focused on supporting educators." 59% of those surveyed said that they have no role or only a small role in school improvement planning. 41% believe that the leadership in their school is not effective. And, 37% do not believe that the school improvement team at their school provides effective leadership. Finally, when asked which aspect of your working conditions is most important to you in promoting student learning, 31% identified time during the work day as the critical need, while 30% said that teachers must become more empowered. The goal of the MEA and the MDoE in sponsoring TeLL was to examine teacher working conditions and levels of student achievement to evaluate whether or not there is a correlation between the two. In other states that have completed this survey, a direct correlation has been made between educator working conditions and student learning conditions. Later this year, student achievement data from the MDoE will be cross referenced with these data on working conditions to determine if there are correlations in Maine. The final report is expected in the fall of 2008.
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