Learning Point Associates

Retaining Teacher Talent

Report 3. Convergence and Contradictions in Teachers’ Perceptions of Policy Reform Ideas

How Do Teachers Who Perceive Themselves to be Effective View Their Teaching Conditions?

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, teachers who perceive themselves to be effective are more likely
to report working in an orderly, safe, and respectful school atmosphere as well as having a
principal who does an excellent job providing useful instructional feedback. They also are
more likely to report having smaller classes and lower numbers of special needs students
in their classrooms (see Figures 4 and 5). These observations, of course, raise the following
questions: Do high-quality teaching conditions produce teachers who feel more effective,
or are more effective teachers attracted to better teaching conditions? Or as a third possibility,
are teachers who perceive themselves to be more effective less likely to complain about their
conditions? The answers to these questions are beyond the scope of this survey, but they are
worth exploring more.

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