RALEIGH — North Carolina’s 2024 Teacher Working Conditions Survey found that more than 90% of teachers expressed satisfaction with their schools as positive environments for both work and learning.
Results revealed record-high satisfaction levels, with 92% agreeing that their school is a good place to work and learn, and 88% planning to continue teaching in North Carolina. The satisfaction percentage is roughly a 6-point increase from 2020 and a 6½-point increase over 2022.
The survey, conducted biennially since 2002, covers various aspects of educators’ perceptions, including retention, leadership, safety, resources, equity and development. More than 102,000 educators participated in this year’s Teacher Working Conditions Survey (TWCS).
North Carolina State Superintendent Catherine Truitt emphasized the importance of educators’ voices in shaping support systems.
“To ensure that we provide the right support, it is vital that North Carolina’s educators have ample opportunity to have their voices heard,” said Truitt. “I’m grateful to the educators who took the time to complete this survey and share their experiences, and I am thrilled to hear that the majority of teachers feel so positively about their schools.”
This year, the TWCS underwent changes based on feedback, notably reducing the number of questions from 199 to 99.
Additionally, the survey introduced an open-ended question to solicit additional insights and optional demographic inquiries which schools and districts use to further improve conditions in the future. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s (NCDPI) press release said 33,000 educators answered the open-ended questions.
Out of approximately 119,000 teachers and student support staff who could have taken the TWCS, 102,082 did. The TWCS saw 96% of schools reaching the 50% participation mark needed to make the data useful to NCDPI, schools and districts for planning purposes.
Student conduct was a key issue in the survey this year, with 68.48% of respondents stating students follow the rules for student conduct. That percentage is an increase over the past two TWCS sets of results; 61.83% (2020) and 60.82% (2022).
“The widest range of agreement on survey questions was related to student conduct,” the NCDPI press release on the TWCS stated. “For example, citing student disrespect of teachers (63%), disorder in common areas such as hallways or cafeterias (60%) and tardiness or skipping class (57%), but citing low rates on issues such as student possession of weapons (10%) or gang activity (11%).”
Additional student conduct categories of concern included physical fights between students (43.37%) and bullying (47.81%). Around 88% said school safety issues were addressed quickly.
Other areas with high percentages of positive feedback included 73.25% reporting they were able to concentrate on student education without interruptions. Additionally, 65.35% said students arrive at school with basic needs — such as school supplies, clean clothes, food and sleep — met.
