Education Week - May 8, 2024 - 10

This Is the Surprising Career Stage
When Teachers Are Unhappiest
Survey data reveal a slump in teachers' job
satisfaction a few years into their careers
By Madeline Will
Call it a seven-year itch: After a couple of years
in the classroom, teachers' morale slumps for a
few years before rebounding later in their careers.
While multiple national surveys show that
teacher morale overall is low, the breakdowns
by experience level reveal an inverse bell curve
of job satisfaction. There's no clear answer as to
why, but the general theory goes like this: Teachers
start their careers feeling relatively optimistic and
excited. But a few years in, they start to feel disillusioned
with the demands of teaching and the stagnant
wages compared to peers in other industries.
" The first five years, [teachers are] just figuring
it out. This is their calling, this is what they went
to school for-they're pushing through, " said
Michelle Faust, an elementary literacy coach in
Lexington, S.C. " When it doesn't get easier in
years five to 10, and sometimes it gets harder, it's
like, what in the world? "
As teachers gain more experience, move up
in the salary schedule, and learn how to better
manage their workloads, the data show their job
satisfaction improves-if they haven't left the
profession yet.
With the more experienced, more satisfied
teachers, " you've got the folks who have figured
it out, and who've chosen to stay, and who have
found their lane and their purpose, " said Mayme
Hostetter, the president of Relay Graduate School
of Education, a not-for-profit preparation program.
" They're doing what they want to be doing. "
The challenge for school leaders, she said, is
maintaining teachers' morale after the initial optimism
and excitement fade, so they can reach
that more stable phase of their careers.
The EdWeek State of Teaching survey, which
polled a nationally representative sample of
nearly 1,500 teachers in October 2023, found
that teachers with three to nine years of classroom
experience have worse morale than their
peers who have either more or less experience.
They are also less likely than teachers in other
stages of their careers to say they'd recommend
their own children, or those of a loved one, pursue
a career in teaching.
More data show a similar trend
Federal data from the National Assessment
of Educational Progress show a similar trend.
When 4th and 8th grade math teachers were
asked how much the statement, " I am satisfied
with being a teacher at this school, " applies to
them, the breakdown differed based on years
of experience. This was the case among 4th
grade reading teachers, too. (There wasn't a
high enough response rate for 8th grade reading
teachers to make the same determination.)
Among 8th grade math teachers, for instance,
80 percent of newbies (those who had
been on the job for less than a year) and 77
percent of seasoned veterans (those who had
been teaching for 21 or more years) said being
satisfied at their school sounded " exactly "
or " quite a bit " like them-compared to 69
percent of teachers with three to five years of
experience and 71 percent of teachers who've
been in the classroom six to 10 years.
This phenomenon might be heightened by the
extenuating circumstances of the past four years.
Teachers experiencing that morale slump now
were new or relatively new to the classroom at
the height of the pandemic.
" They went through this period of extraordinary
difficulty and uncertainty during COVID
and anticipated that it would get better, and there
would be relief, " said Doris Santoro, a professor
of education at Bowdoin College who studies
teacher morale. " Now COVID is over, we're back
to normal, and things should feel good. But ... it's
not easier for anybody right now. "
Students need extra help catching up on academic
ground lost during the pandemic, and
teachers are also contending with a reported
rise in bad behavior and classroom distractions.
Yet teachers who are a few years into their career
might not be fully equipped to tackle those
challenges, Santoro said.
" If those zero to three years [in the classroom]
were the COVID years, then they may
be really experiencing a gap in skills and
maybe never established the kinds of supports
and professional networks that we know are
necessary, " she said.
Layla Treuhaft-Ali, a middle school teacher in
Chicago who is in her fifth year in the classroom,
agreed: " I still consider myself a new teacher because
I lost a year of practical experience during
COVID-there were a lot of experiences I didn't
have, " she said.
Salary, workload may play a role
But there are evergreen factors behind this
early-to-mid-career morale slump, too. For
instance, teachers, on average, make less than
similarly educated workers in other fields.
" I just compare myself sometimes to my
friends who can take [paid time off] anytime
they want, ... and they're making twice as much
as me, " Faust said, adding that the discrepancy is
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >
"
The first five years,
[teachers are] just
figuring it out. This
is their calling, this
is what they went
to school for-
they're pushing
through.
MICHELLE FAUST
Elementary literacy coach,
Lexington, S.C.
10 | EDUCATION WEEK | May 8, 2024 | www.edweek.org
iStock/Getty
http://www.edweek.org
Education Week - May 8, 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - May 8, 2024
