The State of Teaching
Teachers are the backbone of America’s schools, but the future of the profession is in a precarious state.
The expertise and skill required to do the job well is often underestimated, while the ever-increasing demands of the job are not well understood or sometimes misrepresented.
That’s why Education Week has launched an ambitious new project to portray the reality of teaching and help guide more effective policies and practices for the workforce of more than 3 million educators: The State of Teaching.
The project—which we will produce annually—is built on exclusive, nationally representative data from the EdWeek Research Center and on-the-ground reporting from EdWeek journalists.
Our mission is to shed light on the experiences, attitudes, and morale of teachers. We aim to bust myths and challenge oversimplified narratives. We will capture vivid stories from teachers—the everyday highs and lows. And ultimately, we hope to surface new insights that can lead to innovative and effective solutions to empower this essential profession.
The 'Difficult, Beautiful' Work of TeachingFrom sunup to sundown, America's teachers grapple with countless decisions, interruptions, joys, and frustrations.
Education Week's The State of Teaching project is supported in part by grants from the following philanthropic partners:
Our coverage of teachers and the teaching profession is also made possible by general operating support from:
Special thanks to the first-ever Education Week Teacher Advisory Panel, a group of teachers from across the country who shared their insights and feedback as we developed the survey and project. They are: Whitney Aragaki, science teacher at Waiākea High School in Hilo, Hawaii; Michelle Faust, literacy coach at Carolina Springs Elementary School in Lexington, S.C; Frank Mata, English teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Eastvale, Calif.; Claire Mehta, special education teacher at Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Ill.; Tanya Moorer, instructional literacy coach at Joseph Lee K-8 School in Boston; Jocelyn Providence, math teacher at Baltimore School for the Arts in Baltimore; Luisa Sparrow, special education teacher at Oliver Hazard Perry K-6 School in Boston; Layla Treuhaft-Ali, 5th grade humanities teacher at Bronzeville Classical School in Chicago; and Kathryn Vaughn, art teacher at Brighton Elementary School in Brighton, Tenn.