Hey Teacher Tapp Community!
It’s week 27, and that means another amazing round of insights from our ever-growing Teacher Tapp community!
For those of you who’ve been with us a little while now, a reminder that if you answer for 30 days before the end of April, you’ll earn a Starbucks gift card as a little thank-you from us. 🎉
To qualify, you must:
✔️ Be a K-12 teacher currently employed in a US school 🏫
✔️ List your school’s name in your Teacher Tapp profile ✏️
✔️ Be a legal resident of the United States
🔗 Read the full terms and conditions here
Want to make the Teacher Tapp community even stronger? Invite your colleagues to join! The best link to share is onelink.to/teachertapp – it takes them straight to the app store! 📲✨
Now, what did teachers tell us this week? Let’s find out…
1. NAEP tests
Education hit the news this week when the announcement came that NAEP tests would be kept to compare student achievement across states. But how do teachers feel about this?
High school teachers are the most positive – but even here only 41% want to keep the tests. 29% have no preference and 31% felt they should stop altogether.
Middle school teachers are less positive with 28% in favour of the tests, 32% having no preference and 40% preferring the tests to end.
Elementary teachers were the least enthusiastic, 26% want the NAEPs kept, 29% do not have a preference and 45% would rather they ended.
In other Department of Education news, schools were told to put a stop to DEI policies and initiatives, and launched a portal where schools found to be breaching this policy can be reported.
What action have schools taken since this announcement? In elementary schools, very few teachers say their schools have taken any action (4%), but in middle schools, more than a third of teachers say they have announced changes (31%), and 19% of teachers in high schools report their school has made changes.
2. Professional goals
A huge 78% of Teacher Tappers have set goals to achieve this year 💪 but what sort of goals are being set?
The top five most common targets were:
- Achieving new qualifications or completing studies
- Improving student outcomes
- Organization or admin tasks
- Learning how to use new tech tools
- Leadership, coaching and mentoring other teachers
What sort of conclusions might we draw from the targets teachers are setting themselves? After reading through all 158 replies, there are a few things that flag up:
🎯 Focused on Student Outcomes
Teachers across the country are doubling down on improving student achievement—especially in reading, math, and overall engagement. It’s no surprise that the pressure to boost outcomes is real, with standardized testing and school improvement goals driving much of the urgency.
📚 Investing in Professional Growth
From earning advanced degrees to completing certifications like National Boards, LETRS, and microcredentials, teachers are putting serious time into professional development. For many, it’s about advancing their careers—but it’s also a reflection of systems that expect continuous learning and improvement.
🗂️ Drowning in Admin Tasks
A recurring theme? The administrative load. Between paperwork, scheduling, compliance, and trying to meet deadlines, teachers are juggling more than ever. These tasks often pull focus away from actual teaching—and add to the daily stress.
3. Mind your language &$!#%
Last week we shared some shocking behaviour stats with you – and students swearing in the classroom is just one of many behavior issues teachers find themselves dealing with.
But when a student swears, what do you do next?
🗣️ Teachers speaking to pupils privately was the most popular option – 82% of elementary, 73% of middle and 72% of high school teachers would take that step.
🖥️ The next most popular option was to put the incident on the school system – 46% of elementary, 45% of middle and 38% of high school teachers would do this.
💬 Asking for a “sorry” is MUCH more common in elementary schools – twice as many elementary teachers would ask for one compared to middle and high school teachers (32% and 31%).
+ Bonus findings
- Teachers in schools without a teachers’ lounge are twice as likely to NOT socialise with colleagues outside of work compared to teachers who always sit in the same seat in the teachers’ lounge (9% vs 18%).
- In the U.S., 50% of teachers say they’re free to use their phones whenever they want, while 43% are only allowed during breaks, and just 4% are banned from using them during the school day.
- That’s a stark contrast to England, where only 25% of teachers can use their phones freely, and a much larger 69% are restricted to breaktimes.
Daily Reads
We know lots of teachers on Teacher Tapp LOVE the daily reads! If you have ideas of reads we could feature, get in touch by emailing usa@teachertapp.com and we will check it out!
This week our most-read blog was all about curriculum reform.
