School & District Management Report Roundup

Too Many Forms?

By Debra Viadero — May 11, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Paperwork is a burdensome part of the job for many public school educators, but a new study of Louisiana schools suggests that the load may be greater in low-performing schools.

At the behest of the Louisiana Department of Education, researchers Susan E. Kochan Teddlie and Sharon Pol last year surveyed 4,000 educators in 302 schools across the state. They also conducted six focus groups with school and district personnel from 35 of the state’s 68 districts.

They found that teachers on average spent about 2.9 hours a week doing state-required paperwork that was unrelated to teaching. But educators in the state’s lowest-performing schools—that is, those that had been judged “academically unacceptable” because of students’ performance on state exams—spent an average of 5.97 hours a week on paperwork.

The researchers said higher rates of student mobility, teacher turnover, and student misbehavior explain some of the low-performing schools’ disproportionate burden. Struggling schools also typically come under more state scrutiny and have more school improvement programs in place, both of which involve additional documentation requirements.

Ms. Teddlie, a researcher at the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, cautioned, however, that her figures may be low. She said that’s because, in the focus groups, teachers seemed unaware of the origin of the paperwork requirements they routinely fulfilled, not realizing that many of those tasks had been imposed by the state.

She and Ms. Pol, an independent researcher, presented their findings last week in Denver at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

A version of this article appeared in the May 12, 2010 edition of Education Week as Too Many Forms?

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Do Districts Have 'Administrative Bloat'? This State May Let the Public Decide
A North Carolina bill would require districts to publish the salaries of central-office administrators.
5 min read
A vector illustration of a large, red one hundred dollar bill on it's side with men in business suits balancing on the edge with some falling off.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management Opinion Want to Be a Better Education Leader? Try These 5 Strategies
Teams should leave you feeling more connected, not drained and disengaged.
6 min read
Screen Shot 2025 05 18 at 8.06.14 AM
Canva
School & District Management How Principals Can Boost Teacher Morale
Principals share advice for how they support teachers during uncertain times.
4 min read
Vector illustration of a large handing holding an open book with silhouetted women and men standing on the pages of the open book.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion Denver Superintendent: Why We Sued the Federal Government
Education leaders shouldn't remain apolitical in the face of immigration enforcement changes and other threats from the Trump administration.
Alex Marrero
6 min read
Human hands created secure environment for children via home roof gesture. Adults taking care of vulnerable students.
Mary Long/iStock + Education Week