Number of the Week: U.S. Teachers’ Hours Among World’s Longest

[proud2BlibKansan]

1,097: Average number of hours U.S. teachers spend per year on instruction.

Students across the U.S. are enjoying or getting ready for summer vacation, but teachers may be looking forward to the break even more. American teachers are the most productive among major developed countries, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data from 2008 — the most recent available.

Among 27 member nations tracked by the OECD, U.S. primary-school educators spent 1,097 hours a year teaching despite only spending 36 weeks a year in the classroom — among the lowest among the countries tracked. That was more than 100 hours more than New Zealand, in second place at 985 hours, despite students in that country going to school for 39 weeks. The OECD average is 786 hours.

And that’s just the time teachers spend on instruction. Including hours teachers spend on work at home and outside the classroom, American primary-school educators spend 1,913 working in a year. According to data from the comparable year in a Labor Department survey, an average full-time employee works 1,932 hours a year spread out over 48 weeks (excluding two weeks vacation and federal holidays).

more . . . http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/06/25/number-of-the-week-u-s-teachers-hours-among-worlds-longest/?fb_ref=article_top&fb_source=home_oneline

[Reader Rabbit]

1. You expect anyone to have sympathy for those trough feeders?

:sarcasm:

[jpak]

2. Lazy Wagon Rider Union Thugs with a 3 month summer vacation

whiners

:sacasm:

[madfloridian]

3. Kick

Interesting post....considering the "reformers" are demanding longer days and years as we speak.

:hi:

[Starry Messenger]

4. And that doesn't even account for all of the hours I spend rebuking Clive, my yacht polisher.

Not to mention all of the mani/pedis and power lunches. (Especially the ones I take standing up eating during an impromptu student conference.)

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Did they count the hours my chauffeur spends driving me to and from school?

[Starry Messenger]

6. Only if you take him as a deduction.

[bbinacan]

7. Please check my math here

I've had a few beers. 1097 hours/40 hours = 27.425 weeks. 1913 hours/40 hours = 47.825 weeks. Nice gig, I work 2304+ hours a year with no paid vacation. This is based on a 48 week year. I don't get paid for the missing 4 weeks.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Put down the beer

Kids aren't in school 8 hours a day.

From the OP: "U.S. primary-school educators spent 1,097 hours a year teaching despite only spending 36 weeks a year in the classroom — among the lowest among the countries tracked."

[bbinacan]

23. Well no kidding

that children aren't in school 8 hours a day. Wow, now that's a revelation. I was talking about the hours a TEACHER works. Good grief.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. First line of the article says "hours U.S. teachers spend per year on instruction"

It's kind of hard to engage in instruction when kids are not in school.

[bbinacan]

27. Do me a favor

go back and read the entire post. My focus was on HOURS spent by teachers. I think we agree.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. The article is about hours spent on instruction

It doesn't include the hours spent outside of class.

Is that the point you are trying to make?

[bbinacan]

29. My point WAS the hours outside of class.

I give up. Good grief.

[TaupeDem]

15. Thank You from all my relatives who worked blue collar jobs in places like

factories where the only source of heat in the winter were from space heaters mounted overhead and the only source of coolness in the summer were the overhead fans and the occasional grabbing a cup of water and throwing it on their heads.

[Igel]

19. 48 full-time weeks.

That, of course, is wedged into about 38 weeks.

It doesn't count the hours spent doing professional development.

Or that they're underpaid for their education level. If you paid them for their summer months--for example, teachers teaching summer school or finding another job for the summer--it works out better. Except that often their professional development requirements take place during the summer.

Just got done a 3-day training session. $100/day stipend, if you were already hired as a teacher this fall. Some school districts required that their teachers attend, even though the districts weren't paying them and some had a 90-minute commute. That netted them nearly 20 hours out of the 150 they need every 5 years to renew their certificates.

I've done the 8-hour/day assembly line gig, both when the inside temp was 100 F and when it was 48 F. Unless the supervisor was being a real pain in the arse, the assembly line gig had boredom as its main problem. Even then, the supervisor tended to seldom be around, she had other people to bother and things to do. Teaching? Principles, other teachers, parents, and students make for a fair amount of high stress in a problem school.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I worked in a factory and a warehouse when I was in college

and I wasn't supervised as much as I have been as a teacher.

I used to hate clipboards, now I hate iPads. :)

[boppers]

9. "American teachers are the most productive"?

hours worked = productivity?

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. The article refers to:

"1,097: Average number of hours U.S. teachers spend per year on instruction"

Instruction is only a portion of a teacher's work load. Prep time is another hour or more per day at school and then there are several hours spent after school and in the evening prepping and grading.

[boppers]

14. From the same article:

"Despite the amount of time that teachers spend working, student achievement in the U.S. remains average in reading and science and slightly below average in math when compared to other nations in a separate OECD report."

I guess the article is arguing that student achievement is *not* the desired product, but instruction time is?

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. The article is arguing that US teachers work longer hours

It's not that hard to understand.

[boppers]

30. I think I got that.

My point was about productivity, and how it is not directly correlated to longer hours.

The article seemed to insinuate otherwise.

In my trade, working longer hours on specific tasks is actually a detriment, a way to *reduce* productivity... more mistakes get made, attention to detail is lost, etc.

Maybe part of the US educational problem is the same... they've lost productivity because they're working too long on the wrong things, and thus burning themselves out.

[Rex]

10. Look we need to rail on teachers to distract from all the CEO criminals

stealing trillion from the treasury! It is our DUTY to Foxnews, to make sure Americans are left in the dark about the important things.

[Bozita]

12. Move-on.org said it best ...

Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR, PBS, and unions crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in taxpayer funded bailouts, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses and paid no taxes?

Yeah, me neither. Pass it on.

[Rex]

16. THANK YOU!

I was trying to remember that quote and where it came from when I was posting. It was in my thoughts! :hi:

[Bozita]

18. Here's the poster version ...

Move-on recommends folks add it to their Facebook pages.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I love this from Wisconsin:

[Canuckistanian]

11. Probably use the highest percentage of their own income on supplies, too

I remember being shocked to hear that teachers regularly paid out of pocket for school supplies such as pens, paper, art materials, etc.

[JackDragna]

17. Listen, everything's fine!

Just because I'm so busy during the school year that I routinely skip meals, alienate my family and get 4 hours of sleep per night is perfectly fine. After all, I LOVE jumping through the hoops people put in front of me!

[Tennessee Gal]

21. Over worked.

and underpaid. No doubt about their significant contribution to society.

[RebelOne]

25. My daughter is a teacher in South Florida.

And after her hours in the classroom, she also has to spend hours at home reading and grading papers. Also, her weekends are spent doing the same thing.