“As a principal I always valued the data and information I received from the Teacher Working Conditions Survey. The data gave me great information I could use to guide my school's improvement efforts. As a superintendent, the Teacher Working Conditions Survey is invaluable to me. It not only gives me great information about conditions for teachers in their individual schools but it also helps guide my thinking in terms of district improvement. It is valuable for teachers, school and district leaders because it provides a real picture of what is working well and what needs to be done to make things better.”

Dr. Todd Martin

Superintendent, Yadkin County Schools 

"The North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions survey provides our teachers with a platform to elevate their voices as advocates for their working environment. The data from the survey is a powerful instrument to use for effective school improvement."

Yvette Smith Mason, Ed.D.

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Professional Development, Wayne County Public Schools

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The Purpose of the Survey

The NCTWC survey is an anonymous statewide survey of teachers and other licensed, school-based educators to assess teaching conditions at the school, district, and state level.
● NCTWC Survey is anonymous and all information, access to the survey, the results, and resources are online at www.nctwcs.org
● The 2022 survey will be live from March 1-31, 2022.
● Educators can access the survey anytime, anywhere, via any Internet-enabled device using an individual, confidential code that has been assigned to the individual’s school.
● The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.  

The state’s education leaders want to ensure that every educator has the supportive environment necessary to help students achieve at the highest level.

The survey provides data for school and district improvements to be used along with other data points each school already has, such as student achievement, percent poverty level, teacher turnover rate, etc. Results are also expected to inform state-level policy.

Research associated with the NCTWC Survey results has shown strong connections to student achievement and to teacher retention. Over the past twenty years state policymakers have incorporated the use of the NCTWC survey results in various strategies for school and district improvement including annual school and district improvement plans, the evaluation of administrators, the state’s plan for the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Title I and Title IIA programs, and the state’s Equity Plan.

Supporting educators starts with asking about the teaching conditions needed to do their jobs well. The questions are objective, externally validated questions. Research across the nation has shown these questions are strongly connected to both improved student achievement and teacher retention.
This year’s survey includes a new brief section regarding education in our state during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

1. All teachers and licensed school-based educators (teachers, administrators, media coordinators, counselors, etc.) in the state.
2. Part-time, licensed school-based educators may also participate.  

Public K-12 schools under the authority of DPI are the focus of the NC TWC survey. Preschools with an NC school identification number can also be included. If your school is not on the list, please contact the Help Desk at www.nctwcs.org once the survey window opens. 

The NC Department of Public Instruction has contracted with Academic Development Institute (ADI) to administer the NCTWC survey.

No. The NCTWC Survey is designed and is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly to assess the working conditions of licensed school-based educators.

No, only teachers and school-based licensed educators participate.

Accessing the Survey

Itinerant teachers should complete the survey for their base school, but they also have the option to take at any other school that they serve where they spend enough time to be able to assess the teaching and learning conditions in the school.

Your school representative (School Improvement Chairperson or principal designee) will receive a packet in February 2022 with instructions included. Packages will be marked with the NC Teacher Working Conditions logo. The representative is asked to:
● Set up a faculty meeting.
● Share key talking points about the survey.
● Distribute the letters randomly. Teachers can switch their letters once received with other licensed educators based in their same school to ensure anonymity.
● Meet personally with anyone not in attendance to explain the process.  

Visit www.nctwcs.org and click on “Need Help?”

Each code is unique and can only be used one time, so once you have completed the survey, your code letter can be destroyed or discarded.

The access codes are randomized codes created by the Academic Development Institute (ADI) and assigned to an individual school building in order to provide results from the teachers in that school.
● Codes are not linked to any individual!
● Codes are impossible to trace to an individual before, during, or after the survey is completed.
● It does not matter which educator uses a particular code within a school building, so educators are welcome to switch code letters to ensure anonymity.
● Each code can only be used once.  

Administrators do complete a survey using one of the anonymous access codes sent to the school in the letter to educators. All codes are anonymous and can be used by any licensed school-based educator in the assigned school. When the administrator selects their role under the demographics section, they will then receive the bank of applicable questions for administrators.

Designated school NCTWC representatives and principals can contact the helpdesk to adjust headcount, secure additional codes, report lost codes, or ask questions about the surveys.
Individual educators can contact the help desk to obtain replacement codes and ask clarifying questions.  

The survey questions were created by the NCDPI and each individual question addresses specific and relevant aspects of a teacher’s working conditions.
The survey application is put through multiple stress tests to make sure data is collected correctly and the survey performs without issue, prior to opening the survey up to educator participants. 

● All requests for headcount changes must be submitted via www.nctwcs.org by the school representative or building administrator, using the “Need Help?” link.
*Please note: Changes will only be accepted prior to and during the survey window. Once the survey closes, no headcount changes will be made.  

Taking the Survey

Once you receive your anonymous access code from your school representative:
● Visit www.nctwcs.org
● Enter your anonymous access code
● Click on the “Start Survey” button
● Click the submit button once all questions are answered
The survey is available 24 hours a day from any internet-enabled device while the survey window is open.  

No. Everyone will use www.nctwcs.org to access the survey using the unique access code. Then, the participant will be asked to select their job category at the beginning of the survey. The job category you identify will determine the customized questions you are asked to answer.

You will receive instant confirmation that your survey has been submitted.

● The survey is about the school environment, not about any one person or individual.
● There are NO questions asked that refer to an individual educator or administrator, but rather “leadership” at the school.
● There are no questions that specifically ask about subject areas or grade levels.
● When the letters with the unique, anonymous access codes are distributed in the school, educators are encouraged to switch letters, further demonstrating the codes are anonymous.
● While there are some demographic questions on the survey, answers to these questions are only reported at the state level, not at the district or school level.  

There is a minimum sample size of at least 5 educators for any school-level report. So, unless there are at least 5 educators within their first three years of teaching, no data will appear on the school report for the “New Teacher” section.
Additionally, it is not possible to view data by role, years of experience, or any other demographic information at the school or district level. And there are no questions that specifically ask about subject areas or grade levels.  

The survey is administered by District and Regional Support within the Office of Educational Equity at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Each region has a Regional Education Facilitator (REF) assigned who can answer additional questions about the survey initiative.

REF Contact: Find My REF Contact  

Survey Results

All data will be available at www.nctwcs.org approximately 6 weeks after the close of the survey window for all schools reaching the minimum threshold of 40% response rate and at least 5 educators completing the survey. 

Administrator responses are aggregated at the state level only and will be posted on www.nctwcs.org at the same time as the educator results. To ensure anonymity of all respondents, administrator responses are not identified or reported on the website in the school or district web reports. 

Anyone may view and download the most current survey results, which will be located at www.nctwcs.org approximately 6 weeks after the survey closes. Results from the previous 2 surveys will also be available. Instructions for obtaining specific data sets are also located on the website, under the Research Section.

Visit www.nctwcs.org to view live response rates for schools and districts.

Academic Development Institute
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
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Email: 
SurveySupport@adi.org

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