The EdWeek Research Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, provided the content for this report. Merrimack College’s School of Education and Social Policy was the sponsor. EdWeek Research Center publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. References to sponsors in this research paper do not constitute endorsements by Education Week or Editorial Projects in Education. The EdWeek Research Center produces independent, objective, nonpartisan research and analysis. For more information, contact us at RCinfo@epe.org .
The results of the third annual Merrimack College Teacher Survey suggest that teachers are not all right.
The survey was fielded online January 25th-March 11th, 2024 by the nonprofit, nonpartisan EdWeek Research Center, which conducted the study on behalf of Merrimack College. A total of 1,487 public school teachers and 131 private school teachers took the survey. Previously only conducted with public school teachers, this year’s survey included private school teachers, but the results are reported separately to maintain comparability with past results.
Compared to last year’s survey, a larger share of public school teachers say their mental health and wellness has had a negative impact on their teaching and professional growth. Relative to 2023, more public school educators also say the mental health of their colleagues has worsened over the course of the school year. As mental well-being has worsened, the share of public school teachers who are very satisfied with their jobs has also declined 2 percentage points, to 18 percent. As was the case last year, not surprisingly, mental well-being and job satisfaction are correlated.
Also correlated are teacher and student well-being: Public and private school teachers who say their own mental health is having a detrimental impact on their work are more likely to say the mental health of their students is having a detrimental impact on their learning.
More encouragingly, compared to 2023, a smaller percentage of teachers say student mental health is having a negative impact on student learning and behavior. However, a larger share say student mental health declined over the course of the school year, while a smaller share say it has improved. Roughly half of public school teachers still say that student mental health is having a negative impact on academic learning and on classroom management. The share of private school teachers saying the same is only slightly smaller.
In response, 70 percent of public school teachers and 68 percent of private school educators recommended that at least one student receive an intervention or services to support mental well-being during the 2023-24 school year. Although mental health counseling for students is a support that teachers are most likely to say their schools do well, 47 percent of public school teachers and 41 percent of private school teachers say their campuses need more counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Roughly half of public and private school teachers say student well-being might improve if parents received more guidance on supporting student mental well-being at home.
When it comes to supports aimed at improving teachers’ mental health, survey results suggest there is also room for improvement. Just 3 percent of public school educators and 5 percent of their private school counterparts say mental health programming for teachers is extensive. Twenty-two percent of public school teachers and 24 percent of private school teachers say their employers do not offer this type of programming.
Compared to 2023, 2024 public school respondents are more likely to say their principals provide a lot of concrete support for teacher mental well-being. However, 31 percent of public school teachers and 27 percent of private school teachers report their administrators do not provide any support at all.
When asked how schools could better support emotional wellness, teachers are more likely to request general improvements to their working conditions than to call for services directly related to mental health. As was the case last year, the changes that public and private school teachers say would make the biggest difference are pay raises to reduce financial stress and more/better support for student discipline-related issues. For public school teachers, these are the same priorities as last year, but a larger share of respondents now say these steps would make a difference.
This report concludes with recommendations based on survey results.
The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points, with a 95 percent confidence level. Results were weighted by years of experience, as calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics.