The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards releases new data highlighting how teaching has changed and key challenges the profession faces during the pandemic.
Arlington, VA — October 1, 2020 – The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards released survey data detailing the views of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) on teaching during the pandemic. More than 3,000 NBCTs across the country completed the survey.
NBCTs are teachers who have demonstrated they meet the profession’s standards for accomplished teaching practice by successfully completing the National Board’s advanced, voluntary, professional certification. Survey findings include:
- Three-quarters are working more hours during COVID-19 than before; of these, nearly 1 in 5 were working more than 15 hours more per week during COVID-19.
- One-third report spending more out-of-pocket money teaching under COVID-19 than before; one-quarter are spending more than $500 more than before.
- Only 1 in 4 report their school or district provides adequate access to counselors and mental health supports for both students and teachers.
- Only 1 in 4 report their school or district has provided the needed professional learning supports during COVID-19. The areas where additional professional learning is most needed include:
- Supporting colleagues
- Teaching anti-racism
- Supporting student social-emotional learning
- Supporting students and/or families with distance learning
- One in 7 of respondents is considering leaving the classroom because of COVID-19 (e.g., they were not planning to leave teaching before COVID-19, but are planning to leave now); but 96% could be convinced to stay with stronger commitments to health and safety, resources and supports, flexibility, or greater compensation.
- Only 10% felt their expertise was appropriately tapped by decision-makers in the transition to distance and hybrid learning; nearly half of these expert teachers said their expertise was not tapped at all.
“These results make it clear that educators need administrators and policy makers to support them and their work more than ever before,” said Peggy Brookins, NBCT, president and CEO of the National Board. “Teachers are facing unique challenges of addressing their student academic concerns and also the physical well-being of both themselves and their students.”
View an infographic highlighting survey results.
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About the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (www.nbpts.org):
The founding mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by: (1) maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; (2) providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards; and (3) advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers. Recognized as the “gold standard” in teacher certification, the National Board believes higher standards for teachers means better learning for students.