TDOE, TERA Release Results of 2023 Tennessee Educator Survey

Nashville, TN—Today, the Tennessee Department of Education and Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) released key findings and responses from the 2023 Tennessee Educator Survey from nearly half of the state’s educator population. Responses from the 2023 survey are vital to informing the state’s work on improving the educator experience in Tennessee and supporting educators with meeting the needs of every student in the state. The department looks forward to continuing to attract and retain the best educators in Tennessee.

Administered in early 2023 from February 27th- April 17th, this year’s survey findings show that 50% of teachers and 47% of administrators in Tennessee participated in the survey. Additionally, new questions on this year’s survey for teachers and administrators focused on what is going well with TN ALL Corps and how tutoring programs can be improved.  

The Tennessee Educator Survey is a voluntary and confidential survey, open to all teachers, administrators, and other certified staff, and collects data to understand educator experiences to inform decision-making on all key issues facing our schools and classrooms. State-, district-, and school-level data is now available on the survey results website and the Tennessee Educator Survey: 2023 Overview can be found here.

"The Tennessee Educator Survey is a valuable tool that highlights the state’s commitment to hearing directly from educators on their experience teaching in Tennessee,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “Participation in this survey is crucial, as responses have a direct impact on the ways we plan to support our teachers throughout the year.”

Key findings from the 2023 survey include:

• Early reading teachers generally feel positive about their training, with more than nine out of ten K-2 ELA teachers agreeing that they are adequately trained to teach a child to read using the foundational skills.
• Seven out of ten responding teachers indicated that they received adequate training to use curriculum effectively, compared to six in ten in 2020.
• Overall, CTE teachers are largely satisfied with their programs of study, with seven out of ten teachers reporting that their program offers at least one early postsecondary opportunity or industry credential. 
• Tennessee teachers identified summer learning programs, efforts to reduce absenteeism, and high-dosage tutoring as the pandemic recovery efforts that have had the most positive impacts on their students. More specifically, nine out of ten teachers who served as tutors agreed that the tutoring program was effective; furthermore, six out of ten teachers agreed that they saw a noticeable improvement in the academic performance of students who received tutoring.

“We are grateful for the thousands of educators who participate in the survey each year,” said Laura Booker, Executive Director, Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA). “Their perspectives help inform decisions made in their districts and schools and provide rich data that can be used to study pressing policy issues in K-12 education."

Each year, schools with high survey participation rates are selected via a lottery to receive grants of up to $5,000 for staff appreciation. Grants for high participation in the 2023 survey will be awarded soon.

Survey questions, statewide results, the overview brief and more can be found here. For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.

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