Teachers’ overall job satisfaction is shifting in a positive direction, according to Education Week’s Teacher Morale Index, a year-over-year, multifaceted gauge of how teachers feel about the profession.
In the 2024-25 school year, the national Teacher Morale Index is +18 on a scale of -100 to +100, suggesting that teachers, overall, view their jobs more positively than negatively. That score is a significant climb from last year’s -13.
The Teacher Morale Index, developed by the EdWeek Research Center, measures teachers’ levels of confidence and enthusiasm about their work based on responses to three survey questions that were part of a larger, nationally representative poll fielded among more than 2,500 teachers last fall.
While the overall measure of +18 presents an improving picture nationally, morale levels look quite different depending on the state teachers are working in. That’s why the EdWeek Research Center’s survey of teachers last fall set out to capture representative samples of educators in all 50 states. We wanted to show the variability in the state-specific findings in order for district and school leaders, along with policymakers, to better understand the mood of their teacher workforces closer to home.
