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Digest of Education Statistics
1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 28. -  Teachers' perceptions about teaching and school conditions, by type and control of school: 1993-94
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                         |  Percent of teachers somewhat agreeing or strongly agreeing with statement
                                         |______________________________________________________________________________
                                         |      Public school teachers          |       Private school teachers
                Statement                |______________________________________|_______________________________________
                                         |        |Elementary|Secondary|Combined|        |Elementary|Secondary|Combined
                                         | Total  | schools  | schools |schools | Total  | schools  | schools | schools
_________________________________________|________|__________|_________|________|________|__________|_________|_________
                    1                    |   2    |    3     |    4    |   5    |   6    |    7     |    8    |    9
_________________________________________|________|__________|_________|________|________|__________|_________|_________
The school administration's behavior     |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  toward the staff is supportive  .......|   79.2 |     80.7 |    76.8 |   77.0 |   88.2 |     89.4 |    83.3 |    88.7
My principal enforces school rules for   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  student conduct and backs me up when I |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  need it ...............................|   80.8 |     82.0 |    78.6 |   81.4 |   88.4 |     89.3 |    84.4 |    88.5
The principal lets staff members know    |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  what is expected of them  .............|   85.6 |     86.9 |    83.5 |   82.1 |   88.2 |     89.1 |    86.6 |    88.2
Principal talks to me frequently about   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  my instructional practices ............|   44.3 |     49.0 |    35.6 |   45.7 |   54.0 |     58.3 |    41.2 |    53.7
Goals and priorities for the school are  |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  clear  ................................|   82.8 |     85.4 |    78.1 |   79.3 |   90.2 |     90.9 |    88.3 |    90.2
Teachers in this school are evaluated    |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  fairly  ...............................|   87.9 |     88.6 |    86.6 |   85.3 |   89.8 |     90.4 |    87.3 |    90.3
In this school, staff members are        |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  recognized for a job well done  .......|   67.9 |     71.7 |    61.7 |   62.6 |   81.1 |     82.4 |    74.7 |    82.1
Principal knows what kind of school      |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  he/she wants and has communicated it to|        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  the staff .............................|   80.5 |     82.8 |    76.7 |   77.1 |   88.6 |     89.1 |    85.5 |    89.9
Principal does a poor job in getting     |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  resources for this school .............|   16.1 |     15.1 |    18.1 |   19.6 |   10.5 |     10.6 |    12.9 |     8.7
Most of my colleagues share my beliefs   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  and values about what the central      |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  mission of the school should be .....  |   84.2 |     87.3 |    79.1 |   81.4 |   93.2 |     95.0 |    88.4 |    93.7
Teachers participate in making most of   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  the important education decisions in   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  this school ...........................|   58.3 |     62.8 |    50.3 |   58.4 |   74.0 |     75.1 |    66.1 |    75.3
There is a great deal of cooperative     |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  effort among staff ....................|   77.5 |     80.9 |    71.8 |   76.3 |   90.5 |     90.3 |    86.2 |    93.0
I receive a great deal of support from   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  parents for the work I do .............|   52.5 |     58.4 |    43.2 |   47.4 |   84.6 |     87.3 |    77.7 |    83.1
I make a conscious effort to coordinate  |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  the content of my courses with that of |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  other teachers  .......................|   85.0 |     88.0 |    79.8 |   82.9 |   85.2 |     86.6 |    78.5 |    86.1
Routine duties and paperwork interfere   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  with my job of teaching  ..............|   70.8 |     70.9 |    71.4 |   65.7 |   40.1 |     40.5 |    45.2 |    36.2
I have to follow rules in this school    |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  that conflict with my best professional|        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  judgement .............................|   24.2 |     22.0 |    27.4 |   26.4 |   15.0 |     15.1 |    19.1 |    13.0
Level of student misbehavior in this     |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  school interferes with my teaching ....|   44.1 |     42.9 |    45.5 |   43.9 |   22.4 |     22.7 |    20.2 |    25.1
Amount of student tardiness and class    |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  cutting in this school interferes with |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  my teaching ...........................|   27.9 |     18.4 |    45.3 |   24.6 |    8.6 |      6.4 |    13.4 |     9.2
Rules for student behavior are           |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  consistently enforced by teachers in   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  this school, even for students who are |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  not in their classes ..................|   61.8 |     70.9 |    45.8 |   59.5 |   77.6 |     83.1 |    63.6 |    77.0
I am satisfied with my class sizes  .....|   64.9 |     62.9 |    68.2 |   78.1 |   84.4 |     82.2 |    84.0 |    89.3
I am satisfied with my teaching salary ..|   44.9 |     44.1 |    47.2 |   43.1 |   41.6 |     35.5 |    43.6 |    49.5
I sometimes feel it is a waste of time   |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  to try to do my best as a teacher  ....|   26.8 |     23.4 |    32.6 |   30.8 |   13.4 |     12.1 |    16.5 |    13.7
I plan with the librarian/media          |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  specialist for the integration of      |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  services into my teaching .............|   66.9 |     67.8 |    65.8 |   64.5 |   60.6 |     58.6 |    65.4 |    61.2
Library/media materials are adequate to  |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  support my instructional objectives ...|   65.6 |     64.9 |    67.7 |   59.9 |   61.0 |     56.4 |    67.2 |    63.4
Necessary materials are available as     |        |          |         |        |        |          |         |
  needed by staff .......................|   73.1 |     73.7 |    73.0 |   72.3 |   85.7 |     84.5 |    85.3 |    87.3
_________________________________________|________|__________|_________|________|________|__________|_________|_________

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Schools and Staffing Survey, 1993-94." (This table was prepared September 1996.)


1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest