Monday, March 2, 2020

North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey Opens Today

After record-high completion on the last NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey, State Superintendent Mark Johnson sets the goal for North Carolina to be the top in the nation for completion rate this year.
Raleigh, NC
Mar 2, 2020

After record-high completion on the last NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey, State Superintendent Mark Johnson sets the goal for North Carolina to be the top in the nation for completion rate this year. 

Starting today and continuing through March 31, all teachers and school-based licensed educators in North Carolina are being asked to participate in the 10th biennial statewide NC Teacher Working Conditions (NC TWC) Survey. Results from the long-running survey are used to help inform state education policy, develop schools' annual improvement plans and are part of the principal evaluation process. 

State Superintendent Mark Johnson said the survey is an important and effective means to improve educational quality in classrooms across North Carolina. 

“With the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey, we listen to educators in order to best support them and their students.” Johnson said. “Survey results have helped us eliminate many tests, get taxpayer money out of the Raleigh bureaucracy and to classrooms instead, and encourage more parent and community engagement for our schools.”  

The state’s teacher working conditions survey is an online, anonymous survey that assesses teachers’ working conditions in key areas. Questions focus on time, facilities and resources, community support and involvement, managing student conduct, teacher leadership, school leadership, professional development, instructional practices and support, and new teacher support. 

The survey is a valid and reliable instrument designed to measure educator perceptions about the presence of teaching and learning conditions that research has shown increase student learning and teacher retention, said Cynthia Martin, DPI’s director of District and Regional Support, the agency’s division that administers the survey. 

Results from past surveys have provided education policymakers and school leaders with actionable information for improving professional development, school improvement plans, and teacher and administrator evaluations. 

This year’s survey brings many new developments to the program. The survey has a new vendor, the Center for Optimal Learning Environments (COLE);  a new website, www.asqnc.com; and new survey questions to gauge teachers’ perceptions about equity and school safety.  

A partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), The North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE), North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association (NCPAPA), North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), and the Professional Educators of North Carolina (PENC) this year made it possible for schools to be eligible for prizes and monetary incentives. 

2020 survey results and findings will be presented to the State Board of Education and released to the public six weeks after the survey closes.  For more information regarding the NCTWCS initiative, please contact Dr. Cynthia Martin, cynthia.martin@dpi.nc.gov

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