As a Christian school administrator, it should make your job easier to know that recent statistics show that private school teachers are more satisfied than their public school counterparts with careers, classroom conditions, and school climate. 

A recent report from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Free to Teach: What America’s Teachers Say About Teaching in Public and Private Schools, uses data from the Schools and Staffing Survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education.

Key findings from the report include:

* Private school teachers are much more likely to have a great deal of control over selection of textbooks and instructional materials and content, topics, and skills to be taught.

* Private school teachers are much more likely to have a great deal of influence on performance standards for students, curriculum, and discipline policy.

* Private school teachers are much more likely to strongly agree that they have all the textbooks and supplies they need.

"While public school teachers are faced with more hassles inside and outside the classroom, private school teachers have much more freedom to teach. These private school teachers report having better working environments and stronger networks of staff support,” said Christian D'Andrea, the study's co-author.

How much influence do the teachers at your school have over curriculum and teaching materials? Considering that they’re the ones actually using the materials, their input is undeniably valuable. In our annual Curriculum focus, we round up some of the latest programs, across subjects, for you (and your teachers!) to review as you make new selections for your students.

I’m always interested in hearing from you. You can reach me at jill@cspmag.com.

God Bless,

Jill Pinheiro
Managing Editor

P.S. Christian School Products magazine is now on Twitter! Follow us at www.twitter.com/cspmag.