Teachers’ Perceptions of Autonomy, Satisfaction, Job Security, and Commitment

This Statistics in Brief highlights changes in teacher autonomy, satisfaction, job security, and commitment between 1999–2000 and 2011–12. The report focuses on patterns between perceived level of autonomy and perceptions of job security, satisfaction, and commitment. This report relies on a sample of U.S. public school teachers using data collected through the 1999–2000 and 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) Public School Teacher Questionnaire. • The majority of teachers perceived moderate levels of classroom autonomy in 1999–2000 and 2011–12. • The percentage of teachers who reported strongly agreeing or somewhat agreeing they worry about job security as a result of student performance was higher in 2011–12 relative to 1999–2000. • Teachers who reported high levels of perceived autonomy generally also reported high levels of satisfaction and job security in both 1999–2000 and 2011–12. • The percentage of teachers with high autonomy who also reported high commitment to teaching exceeded the percentage of teachers with low autonomy who reported high commitment.