Teacher Compensation Survey

The National Center for Education Statistics released a new research and development report today, March 27, entitled An Evaluation of Data From the Teacher Compensation Survey: School Year 2007-08 through 2009-10 (NCES 2018-120).

This report includes: an overview of the survey methodology; comparisons of TCS data with other data sources; a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of TCS data; and findings and descriptive statistics from the years of data collected.

The report found that

• NCES' Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) demonstrated the feasibility of using administrative records to collect detailed and comprehensive data on public school teachers' characteristics and compensation.
• Within participating states, coverage of the target population was effectively universal.
• Almost all participating states provided data that made it possible to track teachers year to year in TCS.
• Among the participating states, the overall percentage of teachers who taught full-time ranged from 84 percent in 2009-10 to 86 percent in 2007-08.
• Among the participating states, the median salary for full-time teachers with a bachelor's degree ranged from $42,745 in 2007-08 to $44,500 in 2009-10.
• Median salaries were higher in suburban schools than in schools in cities, towns or rural areas for all three years of data.