Survey: Teachers Work More Hours Per Week Than Other Working Adults | NEA (2024)

Well-Being and Working Conditions

Working conditions is a rather loosely defined term, but usually includes factors such as level of administrative support, relationships with colleagues, mental health supports, class size, workload, feelings of safety, etc. Working conditions are strongly correlated to educator well-being and are strong predictors of teacher turnover. As with other drivers behind the educator shortage, unfavorable working conditions did not originate with the pandemic, but the demands on educators over the past two years have increased exponentially.

In June, RAND released survey data that examined educator well-being, including its role in the decision to leave the profession. That report found that, although teachers reported that their job-related stress had returned to pre-pandemic levels, their well-being was still worse than other working adults. Managing student behavior, supporting student academic learning, and administrative work were top sources of job-related stress for teachers.

While three-quarters of teachers reported access to at least one type of well-being or mental health support, only a slight majority said these programs were adequate. These educators are more likely to leave the profession than those who were more satisfied with the support.

In the report released this week, the authors say administrator support specifically could be a major factor in how satisfied teachers are in other workplace aspects of their job. “Administrator support may be a key lever for improving job satisfaction and retention,” they conclude. “This interpretation is broadly consistent with other research that finds that poor administrator support is a key driver of teacher turnover.”

The RAND report recommends that policymakers pull every lever available to increase pay while looking for ways to help educators reduce the number of hours worked. In October 2022, NEA released a blueprint outlining long-term strategies and solutions that are most effective at recruiting and retaining educators. It may start with higher pay (educators and their unions have already notched critical victories on this front over the past two years) but a comprehensive strategy must include, among other measures, raising educator voice and professional autonomy, and increasing staff to reduce workload.