The 2024-25 Teacher Follow-up (TFS) and Principal Follow-up (PFS) Surveys

Thank you for participating in the 2023–24 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) last school year! Your survey responses are helping local and federal policymakers, as well as researchers, better understand the condition of K-12 education in the U.S.

NCES is currently collecting follow-up information from schools, teachers, and principals by asking participants who responded to the NTPS in the 2023–24 school year to update their information by answering the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) or the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS). The purpose of these follow-up surveys is to determine how many teachers and principals remained at the same school, moved to another school, or left the profession since the 2023–24 school year, as well as to determine how school policies and practices may have affected these important career decisions.

We value your responses and want to hear your opinions and learn from your experiences. But we need your help to make this data collection a success.

What is the purpose of TFS and PFS?

The purpose of the TFS and PFS are to provide policymakers and researchers with relevant and timely data on retention and attrition in U.S. public, charter, and private K-12 schools. Together with your responses on the NTPS one year later, these insights help decisionmakers understand the condition of K-12 education. The data are collected directly from the perspective of the principals and teachers themselves and permit detailed analyses of the characteristics of schools, principals, and teachers at the national, state, and affiliation level. The TFS and PFS provide critical information for policymakers who set funding and other priorities, including Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, state education agencies, and public school districts.

What is the primary reason K-12 teachers voluntarily left the field?
What kinds of new occupations do principals start when they leave the profession?		What is the racial/ethnic distribution of K-12 teachers who stayed in the profession but moved schools? Of the student body?

The TFS and PFS have been designed with input from state and local education agencies, school administrators, teachers, education policymakers, and researchers through the numerous organizations representing these various data providers and data users.

How long does it take to complete a TFS or PFS questionnaire?

While the surveys will vary in length, the TFS questionnaire will take approximately 19 to 22 minutes to complete. If necessary, you may save your responses and return to the survey later. The PFS will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Why is my participation important?

We need your help to learn more about attrition and retention, and particularly, how teachers' and principals' experiences in classrooms and schools affect decisions to stay in or leave each respective profession. This survey is a primary source of information about what is happening in K-12 schools across the United States from the perspective of administrators and teachers. Only a small percentage of school, teachers, and principals are selected to participate, and no one else can be substituted for you; therefore, you are important for the success of this survey.

How are the TFS and PFS data used?

The data from the TFS and PFS are used by Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, state education agencies, public school districts, and education research organizations to:

• measure the attrition rate for teachers and principals;
• examine the characteristics of teachers and principals who stayed in their profession and those who changed professions or retired; and
• obtain reasons for moving to a new school or leaving the K-12 teaching profession or principalship.

Will my data remain confidential?

Yes, both the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau follow strict procedures to protect the confidentiality of study participants. Your responses to the survey questions will not be shared with your school administration.