A STUDY OF TEACHER MORALE IN TENNESSEE
Abstract
The pupose of this study was to measure the morale level of teachers in Tennessee. Ten factors that contribute to teacher morale were examined: teacher rapport with principal, satisfaction with teaching, rapport among teachers, teacher salary, teacher load, curriculum issues, teacher status, community support of education, school facilities and services, and community pressures. Comparisons of morale between sexes, age groups, and educational level were made. The Purdue Teacher Opinionaire (PTO) was used to measure "morale" in this study. The 100-item PTO not only gives an indication of overall teacher morale, but it also breaks down morale into the ten contributing factors mentioned in the first paragraph. The PTO was sent to 600 randomly selected public school teachers across the state of Tennessee. The sample was equally divided between East, Middle, and West Tennessee with 200 opinionaires going to each section. Analysis of variance was used to test each of the four hypotheses for the total morale score, and for each of the ten factors of the PTO. Hypothesis One predicted that there would be no significant difference at the .05 level in the morale of teachers in East, Middle, and West Tennessee. The null hypothesis was accepted for total morale (p = 0.23). A significant difference (p = 0.02) was found only for Factor One, Rapport with Principal. Hypothesis Two predicted that there would be no significant difference at the .05 level in the morale of teachers under forty, and those forty years of age and older. The null hypothesis was accepted for total morale (p = 0.50) and for all factors except Factor Four, Teacher Salary. Hypothesis Three predicted that there would be no significant difference in the morale of male and female teachers. The null hypothesis for total morale was accepted (p = 0.35) because no significant difference was found; however, five of the ten null hypotheses for the factors were rejected due to significant differences. For Factor One, Teacher Rapport with Principal, Factor Five, Teacher Load, and Factor Nine, School Facilities and Services, male responses were significantly more positive than female responses. Hypothesis Four predicted that there would be no significant difference in the morale of teachers with a bachelor's degree or less and those with a master's degree or more. The null hypothesis was accepted for the total morale (p = 0.70) and for all of the ten factors because no significant difference, based on educational level, was found. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
SUZANNE GORE,
"A STUDY OF TEACHER MORALE IN TENNESSEE"
(1983).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI8529569.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI8529569