2025 Tennessee Educator Survey Snapshot: Early-Career Teachers

The 2025 Tennessee Educator Survey Snapshots offer quick, accessible insights from educators on some of the most important issues in our schools—including artificial intelligence, cell phone policies, student discipline, match curriculum and supports, career and technical education, early career teachers, and teacher evaluation and retention. These one-pagers highlight what teachers are seeing and experiencing right now, providing valuable perspective to inform conversations about policy and practice across the state.

• Key Insight #1: Nearly three-quarters of early-career teachers (in their first three years) reported attending a Tennessee educator preparation program. Most early-career teachers said they completed a job-embedded or student teaching clinical practice pathway.
• Key Insight #2: 3 in 10 early-career teachers said they entered teaching through a career change. Those teachers were more likely to say they attended virtual programs and completed job-embedded pathways.
• Key Insight #3: Early-career teachers who completed job-embedded pathways felt more prepared for classroom management and collaboration with families and colleagues, while those who completed student teaching pathways felt more prepared to teach content effectively.