Teacher Autonomy by State (and Salary)
As I mentioned before, the Center for American Progress just put out a report finding that teachers today still seem to feel very autonomous even in this era of accountability and reform.
Exactly how autonomous they feel varies depending on which aspect of the job you’re asking them about. So, for example, about 58% of teachers report having a “moderate” or “great deal” of control over “selecting content, topics, and skills to be taught”, but more than 93% report that much autonomy when it comes to “evaluating and grading students”.
That makes a certain amount of sense: teachers are usually hired to teach pre-existing content standards, so it’d be a little surprising if they felt as autonomous about content as they do about grading or disciplining students (about which 88% feel autonomous).
One of the most interesting aspects of autonomy, in my view, is over “selecting