Forty percent of teachers in the U.S. are "disheartened," or so says a new study by the nonpartisan nonprofit Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates.  Among the remainder, the study says, 37 percent are "contented," while 23 percent are "idealists."

According to the nationwide study, titled "Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today," disheartened teachers are frustrated with testing, a lack of support from school administrators, and behavioral problems among students:

The view that teaching is “so demanding, it’s a wonder that more people don’t burn out” is remarkably pervasive, particularly among the Disheartened—they are twice as likely as other teachers to strongly agree with this view. Members of that group, which accounts for 40 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States, tend to have been teaching longer and are older than the Idealists, and more than half teach in low-income schools. They are more likely to voice high levels of frustration about the school administration, disorder in the classroom, and the undue focus on testing. Only 14 percent rate their principals as “excellent”” at supporting them as teachers, and 61 percent cite lack of support from administrators as a major drawback to teaching. Nearly three-quarters cite “discipline and behavior issues” in the classroom, and 7 in 10 say that testing are major drawbacks as well.

Contented teachers also tend to be veterans—94 percent of them have been teaching for more than a decade—but they tend to see their schools as "orderly, safe, and respectful" and feel they have both the time and opportunity to craft solid lesson plans.  Many of them teach in schools attended by students from middle-class and affluent families. 

Idealists were those teachers most likely to agree with the statement "good teachers can lead all students to learn, even those from poor families or who have uninvolved parents."  More than half of idealists are 32 years old or younger, and more than half teach elementary-age students.  Of the idealists, 36 percent say they will continue to pursue a career in education, but not necessarily in the classroom.  An interesting note about idealists, from the study's web site:

Although the researchers caution that the teachers’ idealism does not necessarily guarantee that they are more effective teachers than their colleagues, half of Idealists believe their students’ test scores have increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a higher percentage than other teachers in the survey.

While disheartened and idealist teachers may on the surface appear to have different sensibilities about teaching, the survey results demonstrate they are actually very much in agreement on some key issues, including class sizes (they're too large) and the need to improve professional development for teachers.

The researchers conclude that disheartened teachers pose a particular challenge:

Some may be ill-fitted to the job and ready to move on, but how should the field encourage and support their transition? Others may be good teachers trapped in dysfunctional schools and, in the right environment, might change their views and become Idealists. While these teachers may be helping their students despite their bleak outlook, the researchers point out that it would be hard to believe that these Disheartened teachers are as effective as they could be given their own reports about their situation.

I remember reading a study years ago--its title and author elude me now--about the professional life cycle of K-12 teachers.  There were, if I remember correctly, five stages, with the fourth a relatively long period of bitterness and frustration and the fifth a brief period of healthy disengagement from the profession as the teacher readies for retirement.  It's not surprising, then, that those teachers in the study that have the most experience in the classroom would also be those that are disheartened.

Remember, too, that one of the rewards of teaching in public schools is frequently a solid retirement plan or pension. After investing 15 or 20 years in teaching, few teachers can afford to jump ship for another career, as the opportunities elsewhere for pensions are not as strong as if the teacher works another 15 years in the classroom.  These disheartened teachers may be locked into their positions for the rest of their professional lives.

That said, we should be encouraging and motivating our veteran teachers, not frustrating them.  Those teachers who have demonstrated their effectiveness in the classroom should be given more autonomy, not less.  It has to be profoundly frustrating to have developed, over two decades or more, a good deal of real-world, hands-on expertise, only to be met with demands for a standardization of curriculum and a regime of high-stakes testing.  Many of today's veteran teachers entered the profession at a time when creativity in, and innovation of, the curriculum was a thing to be celebrated, rather than something suspicious.  I feel for those K-12 teachers who expected to be able to innovate and grow throughout their careers, only to be met by No Child Left Behind and similar mandates on a state or local level.

Here's what bloggers have to say:

Tom Hoffman at Tuttle SVC takes issue with questions the study explicitly raises about its policy implications, suggesting that better questions might be "What turns an 'Idealist' into a 'Disheartened' teacher?" and "What turns a 'Disheartened' teacher back into an 'Idealist?'"

Jamie Davies O'Leary at Flypaper compares the Public Agenda study with a study from earlier this year on Ohioans' attitudes on variety of education issues.  Davies O'Leary wonders why the studies' results are so different on some key questions:

Admittedly, the sample populations are different and the questions are worded in slightly different ways. But what gives for these very different survey results? Do Ohioans have different views regarding teacher efficacy with poor students compared to the rest of the nation? Do teachers have more optimism than the general public? Is there a generational difference (the Public Agenda survey oversampled young teachers) when it comes to aligning with the idea that teachers can make a difference, rather than the traditional viewpoint that socioeconomics is destiny?

Elena Silva argues that there are ways to keep teachers from becoming disheartened. "There are better designs for teaching," she writes, "designs that can improve teacher satisfaction and effectiveness at the same time."

Maureen Downey isn't sympathizing with disheartened teachers:

My only response to this study comes out a conversation I had over the weekend with three people in construction-related fields. Each had lost their jobs and been looking for six months or more without even an interview. They were unsympathetic to employed folks complaining about conditions on their jobs. Their response to the rest of us was, “Be glad you have a job.” I would bet that “disheartened” now describes a good portion of the U.S. workforce.

What about you?  Are you in sympathy with disheartened teachers?  What are your ideas for improving their satisfaction--assuming job satisfaction among these teachers might lead to greater motivation and even stronger classroom performance?

Leslie Madsen-Brooks develops learning experiences for K-12, university, and museum clients. She blogs at The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and is the founder of Eager Mondays, a consultancy providing unconventional professional development.