According to “The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present, and Future,” teachers are currently more positive about the profession than in previous years.
To quote from the Executive Summary (pp. 22-24) of this 25th anniversary report, they “feel respected in society, recognized for their work and better compensated than they have in the past. They rate the quality of their schools higher, as well as their school’s academic standards and curricula.”
So what’s happened?
For one thing, according to the survey, teachers today have access to more resources, more professional development, and more professional communication than they did in 1984. For another, because the focus today is on student achievement, most teachers meet at least once a month to discuss student data with other teachers in their school. Teachers are using technology and the Internet for their own professional growth and to track data on their students.
Some NCTE members have told their own stories of change between their teacher-selves of yesterday and today through the NCTE Centennial Then and Now activity. How would your Then and Now story read?
