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News Release - Majority of Colorado teachers surveyed say they work in good schools

May 5, 2020

Majority of Colorado teachers surveyed say they work in good schools

Lack of preparation time remains biggest obstacle

DENVER - The majority of educators who responded to a statewide survey this winter believe their school is a good place to work and a beneficial place for students to learn.

The Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado survey was administered before the COVID-19 pandemic led to schools being closed to in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year. The anonymous survey was completed by more than half of the state’s educators, giving administrators and policymakers an inside look at what educators think is working and what needs to change in their schools.

“We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of change for schools and teachers since we asked them to fill out the TLCC survey,” said Katy Anthes, Colorado’s education commissioner.

“However, state policymakers can still use these results to make informed decisions on what our educators need to be successful in teaching our Colorado students. We also know that school staff are anxious to dig into their data and work on school improvements efforts where it makes sense."

Here are some of the results from the survey:

  • A total of 86% of educators said their school is a good place to work and 88.2% responded that their school provides a good learning atmosphere for students.
  • Three-quarters of (74%) educators said they get recognition for doing a good job,
  • A total of 83.8% of educators report that instructional practices and supports are meeting student needs. 
  • A large percentage of (90%) school leaders believe their district leadership is committed to taking steps to solve problems, compared with 86.8% from 2018.
  • In a new question this year, 96.7% of teachers agreed that students at their schools have at least one adult on staff they can trust to support them with social, emotional, or personal concerns.

During the 2020 administration, surveys were sent to each of Colorado's 71,755 professional school-based educators, a total of 37,536, or 52%, of whom provided responses.

Lack of time to prepare for instruction and to support students remains the biggest challenge for educators, with 52.6% saying they have adequate time to support students’ social and emotional learning.

This was the second distribution of the TLCC survey, which replaced the TELL Colorado survey in 2018. Results from the two surveys are on the TLCC website: www.tlccsurvey.org.

About the TLCC survey

The TLCC survey was developed by the Colorado Department of Education, APA Consulting, districts and partner organizations, including the Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Education Initiative, Colorado League of Charter Schools and the Colorado Rural Alliance.
 
The survey was administered through Cambridge Education and provides feedback from educators on such indicators as school and teacher leadership, instructional practices and support, professional development, facilities and resources, managing student conduct, time for collaborative instructional planning, facilities and resources, community support, and involvement and other supports.