The "Teaching for Tomorrow" study, based on three surveys of over 6,200 K-12 public school teachers conducted between October 2024 and May 2025, found that 77% of teachers who have adequate materials and equipment report satisfaction with their workplace, compared to just 44% of those who lack necessary resources.
The findings illuminate systemic challenges across American public education, with significant implications for teacher retention. Teachers who rate their professional development opportunities positively show similarly higher job satisfaction rates (80%) compared to those with inadequate development opportunities (53%).
The study reveals substantial gaps in the quality and relevance of professional development. Only 54% of teachers say their professional development is based on evidence of student learning, while similar percentages report that it enhances their pedagogical knowledge (54%) or subject matter expertise (50%).
More concerning, just 11% of teachers describe their professional development as "highly relevant" to their students' needs, with 57% rating it as only "moderately relevant."
Teachers identified collaborative planning meetings as the most valuable form of professional development, yet these opportunities remain underutilized. The research shows that weekly collaborative planning sessions provide greater benefits than less frequent meetings, but many teachers lack regular access to peer collaboration.
The perceived value of these sessions varies significantly based on leadership structure. Teachers report highest satisfaction with collaborative planning when sessions have no formal leader (71% find them valuable) or are led by fellow teachers (71%), compared to meetings led by administrators (61%) or instructional coaches (62%).
The study found a stark disconnect between the value teachers derive from training workshops and their ability to choose relevant topics. Among teachers who can select which workshops to attend, 68% find them at least moderately valuable. However, only 39% of teachers without input in workshop selection consider them valuable.
This autonomy gap extends to relevance for student needs. Teachers with choice in professional development topics are significantly more likely to find training relevant to their students (68%) compared to those without input (46%).
Teachers consistently identified observing peers' teaching as the most valuable developmental activity (43% citing it as most impactful), followed by mentorship from other teachers (25%) and receiving feedback from classroom observations (21%). However, the study found that classroom observations—which teachers find less valuable—are the most commonly provided form of
The research documents widespread shortages across both human resources and basic materials. Approximately two-thirds of teachers report insufficient access to teaching assistants or paraprofessionals (65%), behavior intervention specialists (64%), mental health resources (62%), and special education support staff (62%).
Basic classroom needs also go unmet, with 35% of teachers lacking adequate printing resources, 26% without sufficient computers or laptops for students, and 24% reporting inadequate classroom furniture.
Administrative barriers compound these shortages. One-third of teachers describe their school's process for requesting materials and resources as "very difficult" (5%) or "somewhat difficult" (30%).
Beyond quantity issues, the study identified significant quality problems with instructional materials. Only 5% to 14% of teachers rate their district-provided materials as "very high quality," whether technology-based curriculum, print materials, hands-on learning tools, or assessment materials.
Between 24% and 36% of teachers characterize these same materials as "somewhat low quality" or "very low quality," indicating systemic problems with curriculum resources across districts.
The research establishes clear links between these resource challenges and broader teacher retention issues. The study's findings suggest that addressing material shortages and improving professional development could significantly impact teacher satisfaction and, by extension, retention rates.
The data indicates that successful interventions should prioritize teacher agency in professional development, increase opportunities for peer collaboration, and address both the quantity and quality of classroom resources.
The study was conducted using the RAND American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative sample of U.S. public school teachers, with margins of error ranging from ±2.3 to ±2.6 percentage points across the three survey waves.
