The State of the American Teacher and the American Principal

Teachers and principals drive student learning. Yet, their jobs are increasingly stressful and complex. This stress takes a toll and can have implications for student learning, educators’ physical and mental health, engagement, and intentions to stay in their jobs. To better understand the state of educator well-being, RAND has launched two projects—the State of the American Teacher and the State of the American Principal.

These projects leverage nationally representative surveys of K–12 public school teachers and principals to gather information on educators’ working conditions and job-related stressors.

Current projects investigate teachers’ and principals’ well-being, working conditions, intentions to leave their jobs, how educators respond to political events, and the diversity of the K–12 public school teacher workforce. This research focuses on the experiences of teachers and principals of color, so school systems can continue to better support a diverse workforce.

Research from the 2024 State of the Teacher Project

Key Findings

• Teachers' well-being has not changed since 2023, for worse or for better. But compared with similar working adults, about twice as many teachers reported experiencing frequent job-related stress or burnout. Teachers were as likely to say that they intend to leave their jobs as similar working adults.
• Teachers reported working 53 hours per week, 9 hours more per week than similar working adults. Fewer teachers consider their base pay adequate compared to similar working adults. Teachers who said their pay was inadequate desired a roughly $16,000 increase in base pay, on average, to consider their pay adequate.
• Female teachers consistently report worse well-being than their male counterparts. Female teachers reported significantly higher rates of frequent job-related stress and burnout than male teachers, a consistent pattern since 2021. Female teachers reported significantly lower base pay than their male peers but on average worked the same number of hours per week.
• Black teachers reported significantly lower base pay and working more hours per week than their peers. Black teachers were more likely than White teachers to say they intended to leave their jobs but were less likely to report experiencing job-related stress.

Technical Documentation and Survey Results

Research from the 2023 State of the Teacher Project

Infographic

Technical Documentation and Survey Results

Research from the 2022 State of the Teacher Project

Technical Documentation and Survey Results

Research from the 2021 State of the Teacher Project

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Team Members

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Through the State of the American Teacher and Principal surveys, RAND is documenting the well-being of U.S. teachers and principals, their perceptions of working conditions, and their experiences with timely education events and topics. The State of the Teacher and Principal surveys are intended to examine the relationships between educators’ working conditions, current events in education, and their well-being.

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Project Funding

The 2023 State of the American Teacher survey was supported by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

Funding for the 2022 State of the American Teacher survey was provided by the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and gifts from RAND supporters and income from operations. Funding for the teacher interviews was provided by the National Education Association and gifts from RAND supporters and income from operations. Funding for the State of the American Principal survey was provided by The Wallace Foundation. Funding for the American Life Panel survey was provided by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

The 2021 State of the American Teacher survey was supported by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.