TDOE & TERA Release 2025 Tennessee Educator Survey Results

Nashville, TN—Today, the Tennessee Department of Education and Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at Vanderbilt University released key findings and responses from the 2025 Tennessee Educator Survey.

"The Tennessee Educator Survey is an important tool that helps us understand what teachers are experiencing in and outside their classrooms every day,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “I’m grateful to the educators, administrators, and school staff across Tennessee who took the time to share their feedback through the survey. Your input is incredibly valuable as we work to better support schools and strengthen the education experience for all students.”

Responses from the 2025 Educator Survey play a critical role in guiding the department’s efforts to enhance educators' experience. These insights offer policymakers and researchers critical feedback to better meet the needs of teachers and students statewide.

"The 2025 Tennessee Educator Survey continues to be one of the most important tools we have for understanding educators’ experiences and needs,” said Laura Booker, Executive Director of TERA. “We hope that state and local leaders use the department’s survey report, survey results website, and TERA’s one-pagers and survey briefs to guide decisions that strengthen teaching and learning."

The survey measures key topics that district and school leaders monitor annually, including educator evaluations, ELA and math instruction, school culture, professional learning, and student readiness. This year, the survey also introduced new questions to address the emerging topics of artificial intelligence and cell phone policies.

Key findings from the 2025 survey include:

• Three out of four math teachers agreed that they can deliver high-quality lessons using the curriculum as designed. High school math teachers are particularly satisfied with their curriculum.
• Nearly 90% of administrators reported that teacher evaluation helps them improve their teaching.
• Over 80% of teachers said they plan to continue teaching in their schools next year. Teachers reported strong leadership and staff culture as important factors driving their decisions to stay at their schools. 
• Eighty-five percent of CTE teachers agreed that their programs provide students opportunities to earn valuable credentials and help prepare students for college and careers. 

The Tennessee Educator Survey is a voluntary and confidential survey, open to all teachers, administrators, and other certified staff across the state. 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.