The Connection Between Curriculum, Professional Development and Teacher Morale

Are teachers happy with the curriculum resources their school districts use? Do they get the support they need? Do they like their professional development?

And is there a link between them having those resources and linking their jobs?

These are critical questions for companies in the education space to consider as they design products and services that support the 3 million teachers working in classrooms across the U.S.

The answers are found in a nationally representative survey conducted of 2,500 teachers by the EdWeek Research Center last fall.

The research was undertaken as part of Education Week’s annual State of Teaching project, which combines survey work with on-the-ground reporting to offer insight into educators’ needs, preferences, and morale.

EdWeek Market Brief and the Research Center then delved into the results to pull out results that speak to teachers’ views of the products, services, and support they receive from education companies.

One of the most striking overall findings is that teacher morale has improved significantly, moving to +18 on the national Teacher Morale Index compared to -13 the year before, the 2025 project found.

“This year in particular, I feel like I can raise a banner that says, ‘My kids are back!’” said Shari Camhi, superintendent of Baldwin Union Free School District in New York, who wasn’t surprised to see educators’ sentiments about their jobs on the rise. “We’re just good again, there’s no lingering stuff [from the pandemic].”

However, unpopular curricula choices and a lack of support for educators in critical areas continue to show up as challenges in the profession.

Here are a few key questions for education companies, and the answers that can be gleaned from the 2025 project.

1. Mixed Views on Curriculum — Though CTE and SEL Stand Out

Curriculum and pedagogy in general aren’t the top contributors to educators’ overall morale, the survey found. But there are some specific types of curriculum, such as career-technical education, that educators say make them more enthusiastic about their job.

The survey asked about various factors — from having a larger staff to different leadership styles to adjusted schedules — that bolster or undermine their morale on the job.

Overall changes to curricula or pedagogy fall low on the list of potential moves that educators say would improve their morale.

When asked what would make the biggest difference — aside from pay increases — only 5% of surveyed educators point to changing curricula. That’s far fewer than the 56% who said increased planning time would improve their view of their work, or the 44% who want to see fewer meetings.

Joseph Nappi, a social studies teacher in New Jersey’s Monmouth Regional High School District, cautions against assuming this means most teachers love their curriculum. It’s more likely that they see overhauling those resources as a less urgent problem than others they’re managing.

“Even if I’m dealing with a bad curriculum, if I’m also working three jobs, I’m going to probably go with the teacher pay scale as a No. 1 concern,” he pointed out.

The biggest point of conflict with curriculum is the disconnect between administrators’ goals with vendor-provided options and what teachers prefer, said Nappi, who was New Jersey’s teacher of the year in 2024.

“Teachers want to take something and then run with it — they don’t necessarily want a one-size-fits-all program,” Nappi said. Their central office bosses, on the other hand, are “trying to assess the efficacy of this product. You want everybody to do the exact same thing so you can have kind of that experimental lab model.”

Creating opportunities for teachers to take ownership of their curriculum and get creative is important for morale, he argues.

Broadly, teachers’ answers about curriculum are more varied when educators were asked about how specific types of curricular and pedagogical approaches would influence their views of their work.

Forty percent of educators say their morale would improve if their district started offering career-technical education, or increased the emphasis on CTE courses. (Interest in career-tech education and career pathways has risen in many states and districts.)

Separately, 44% of educators say their morale would improve if their district started offering or emphasizing social-emotional learning.

Social-emotional learning is popular in school districts among educators who see it as contributing to students’ academic support and overall well-being, EdWeek Market Brief‘s previous research has shown, though it has drawn objections from some Republican state officials and conservative local activists.

And 41% say they’d be happier with their job if their district focused on “non-tested” subjects, or subjects other than math and English/language arts. (See how the answers varied by state here.)

All of these data points are related in Camhi’s mind. The Baldwin Union superintendent sees them as a clear indicator that teachers are interested in resources that are hands-on, skill-based, and more engaging for students.

Often, CTE and “non-tested” subjects, such as science, offer many opportunities for students to experiment, learn through fun projects, and solve real-world problems, Camhi pointed out. So it makes sense that teachers would appreciate their district doing more of this.

“It’s all about the need and the desire to modernize what we do in schools,” she said.

2. Some Teachers, Especially at the High School Level — Want to Be Freed From PD

There is room for improvement when it comes to the type, frequency, and relevancy of the professional development teachers are receiving, EdWeek’s project found.

The survey asked educators how they’d categorize the professional development they received in the past year.

Two out of every five educators, 41%, say their PD is irrelevant.

High school teachers take an especially dim view, the data show, with nearly a quarter of all educators in grades 9-12 saying their PD — provided by either the district or a vendor — isn’t relevant at all. That’s compared to 16% of middle school teachers and 10% of elementary.

There is a hunger for more PD in some key areas, including using technology and digital tools effectively — 13% of teachers say this is the training they need most right now.

Support for motivating and engaging students, 11%, and responding to state and local shifts in curriculum, 10%, also falls high on the list of teachers’ needs.

However, the top answer, chosen by 16% of educators, is that they simply don’t need any professional development right now.

Why? Nearly half of the teachers who say they don’t need training say they’d rather spend their time on a different aspect of their work.

In the Monmouth Regional district, teachers created an AI committee that will weigh what PD is needed to prepare educators to become adept with the fast-evolving technology. The committee organically grew from conversations teachers were having about how they could use the emergency technology, Nappi said.

It’s important for the trainings that districts invest in to satisfy an authentic interest or question that teachers have, he said. Teachers who are driven to attend a training by their own desire for growth will naturally get more out of the experience.

“The best professional development workshops that we’ve had always come from teacher-generated ideas,” Nappi said.

3. Tech Use? Student Discipline? Professional Development Needs Vary by State

While teachers in some states would rather see professional development dialed back, educators in other markets say they’re receiving too little training, the survey found.

Teachers in Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, and Colorado are the most likely to say they have received too much professional development.

On the other hand, those in New Mexico, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Indiana, Connecticut, and Maine are the most likely to say they need more.

In Ohio, training on using technology or digital tools effectively rose to the top when educators were asked about the PD they need.

In Wisconsin, teachers pointed to PD on classroom management, discipline, and student behavior. Mississippi educators most frequently see a need for help in motivating and engaging students.

More broadly, teachers’ overall feelings about their jobs also vary by state.

Georgia, Arizona, Illinois, and South Dakota have the highest morale index scores in the country. While New Hampshire, Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Idaho have the lowest.

In New York, the Baldwin Union district has managed to drive down chronic absenteeism and now boasts a 99% graduation rate, Camhi said — accomplishments she credits in large part to their efforts to modernize learning through creative approaches for keeping students engaged.

For example, they have a cohort of high school students who are learning full-time at a local community college, taking entirely college-level classes.

Other students opt for something called the “senior experience,” which includes working on a capstone for a large chunk of the day twice a week, and leave the building to do internships in areas they hope to pursue after graduation.

The result has improved how both students and teachers feel about school, Camhi said.

“Our teachers who are engaging in this work, they’re having a great time,” she said. “They get to be creative, they get to think outside the box. They get to work collaboratively with kids. They love it.”