A new study released today found Washington teachers spend about three-quarters of the school day teaching and the rest handling administrative duties including parent meetings and professional development.
Teachers spend on average 72.9 percent of the time involved in direct instruction of which a portion is devoted to preparing students for state tests, according to results of the study done by researchers at Central Washington University.
And when the school day ends, teachers stick around on average an extra 90 minutes to wrap up those administrative chores that couldn’t be completed during their contracted work day, the study found.
The CWU Center for Teaching and Learning compiled the results from surveys completed by 5,000 teachers, daily logs maintained by 50 instructors and interviews with three dozen teachers.
Research was carried out in the just ended school year and offers the most comprehensive look to date on how teachers spend their work day. The university received $25,000 in the 2013-15 budget to carry out the study.
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