NC Department of Public Instruction News Service

More than 102,000 educators across North Carolina shared their opinions in this year’s Teacher Working Conditions Survey, and more than 90 percent of them indicated that they believe their school is a good place to work and learn.

“To ensure that we provide the right support, it is vital that North Carolina’s educators have ample opportunity to have their voices heard,” said State Superintendent Catherine Truitt. “I’m grateful to the educators who took the time to complete this survey and share their experiences, and I am thrilled to hear that the majority of teachers feel so positively about their schools.”

The North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey is the state’s biennial comprehensive survey of educator’s perceptions focusing on topics such as retention, school leadership, safety and wellbeing, facilities and resources, equity and professional development. First administered in 2002, this year the survey saw many changes based on feedback from school and district leaders across the state. Most notably, the number of questions asked was reduced from 199 to 99.

The results of the survey, administered in March and presented today to the State Board of Education, showed that 92 percent of educators agreed with the statement: “Overall, my school is a good place to work and learn,” the highest percentage on record for this question. In addition, 88 percent of educators indicated that they plan to remain teaching in North Carolina, an increase from 2022 survey results.

Nearly 33,000 educators responded to the survey’s first ever open-ended question that allowed respondents to share any additional information or experiences of the teacher working conditions of their school not encompassed by survey questions. This year’s new survey also included optional demographic questions.

“NC’s Teacher Working Conditions Survey is so important because we get to hear directly from teachers about their experiences in our public schools. The updates to the survey this year mean we have data we have never had before,” said Dr. Jeni Corn, director of Research and Evaluation. “At NCDPI, we feel a great deal of responsibility to both protect the anonymity of educators while also elevating their voices by the different groups they represent — experience, content area, licensure status, or race/ethnicity.”

Among all the questions asked on the survey, the highest rates of agreement pertained to items related to instructional practices and support, which focuses on data and support available to teachers to improve instruction and student learning.

The widest range of agreement on survey questions was related to student conduct. For example, citing student disrespect of teachers (63 percent), disorder in common areas such as hallways or cafeterias (60 percent) and tardiness or skipping class (57 percent), but citing low rates on issues such as student possession of weapons (10 percent) or gang activity (11 percent).

In all, 102,082 of the roughly 119,000 teachers and student support personnel who were potential participants in the survey responded, with 96 percent of schools meeting a minimum threshold of at least 50 percent participation to generate usable data which schools and districts apply as a part of their ongoing improvement planning.

Results from past surveys have provided education policymakers and school leaders with actionable information for improving professional development, school improvement plans, and teacher and administrator evaluations. The agency has also created a Teacher Working Conditions Promising Practices resource to assist schools and districts with utilizing survey data.

The Teacher Working Conditions Survey is an instrument to assess whether working conditions in school support effective teaching, focusing on the following key areas: retention, school leadership, teacher leadership, managing student conduct, safety & wellbeing, facilities & resources, community support & involvement, professional learning & support, professional development needs, instructional practices & supports, instructional practices & supports needs, time and equity. A more detailed report of findings will be delivered to the State Board of Education this fall and will be presented at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s annual AIM Conference in October.

See highlights from the 2024 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. More information about this year’s survey as well as results from previous years is available at nctwcs.org.