Expectations and ideals of the American teacher, 1992

As part of MetLife's series of annual surveys of the American teacher, a cohort of "new" teachers was identified in 1990 and followed over the first two years of their careers. Among these first-time teachers, the level of optimism associated with teaching and the educational environment decreased between 1990 and 1992. This was offset, however, by a fairly strong commitment to the teaching profession and to students as well as to a continued belief that teachers could positively affect the lives of their students. After two years of teaching, 70 percent of the teachers continued to be "very satisfied" with their work experience with students and almost 60 percent were as highly satisfied with their interactions with other teachers. Only 25 percent of the teachers were "very satisfied" with experiences with the parents of their students, however. High school teachers, teachers in inner-city schools and those with the largest proportion of minority and/or low-income students were consistently more negative than teachers in other settings about their ability to make a positive influence on their students' lives. Nineteen percent of teachers thought it likely that they would give up teaching within the next five years. Lack of support or help from students' parents was tied with lack of support from the school administrators as the major reason for leaving the profession.