The Perceptions of Teacher Status and Impact on the American Educational System

Despite the proven importance of teachers, teacher status in America in ambiguous, while many people have a nostalgic respect for teachers, current educational debates and reforms focus on holding teachers accountable, take away teacher autonomy, and deprofessionalizing the career. This research focuses on examining popular press and professional journals in order to be able to understand the status of American public school teachers and how that status affects the students and decisions made in the classroom. Both popular press and professional journals pointed to a need to raise teacher status in order to create the quality education that the United States needs. Raising teacher status involves multiple components, but most important is that teachers themselves raise their voices beyond the walls of the teachers’ lounge, to involve themselves in educational decisions and instigate change.