The stakes are high: Students have a lot of academic ground to make up following the pandemic. Yet they鈥檙e not fully engaged in the classroom, teachers report .
Nearly half of teachers鈥攁nd 58 percent of high school teachers鈥攕ay that their students showing little to no interest in learning is a major problem in their classroom. And 72 percent of high school teachers and a third of middle school teachers say that students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem.
Those results are from a new survey by the Pew Research Center of more than 2,500 public school teachers, which was conducted from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14. (The teachers surveyed are members of the RAND Corp.'s nationally representative American Teacher Panel.) The survey covers a wide breadth of topics, including teachers鈥� job satisfaction, workload, and challenges in the classroom.
About half of the teachers who responded to the survey gave low marks to both the academic performance and behavior of students at their school. Teachers from high-poverty schools are much more likely to hold these negative views than their peers at low-poverty schools.
When teachers were asked about the problems affecting students at their schools, poverty, chronic absenteeism (generally defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days for any reason), and anxiety and depression topped the list. More than a third of middle school teachers also cited bullying.
And inside the classroom, distractions reign.
Natoria Kennell-Foster, a 7th grade English/language arts teacher in Mississippi, said she鈥檚 still seeing the lingering effects of school shutdowns and remote learning in her classroom this year.
Some of her students are 鈥渞eally hungry to learn,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey want all the things I have to give.鈥�
Others, however, are still not used to the structure of the school day and have been reluctant to engage in class, she said: 鈥淧ulling them in can be difficult.鈥�
Kennell-Foster said she鈥檚 found some success by pairing her eager students with the disengaged ones. And she鈥檚 optimistic that some of these problems will dissipate in the next few years.
鈥淭he further we鈥檝e been removed from quarantine, each year has gotten a little closer to being normal,鈥� Kennell-Foster said.
Cellphones are an 鈥榓ddiction,鈥� teachers say
While 71 percent of high school teachers say their school or district has policies regarding students鈥� use of cellphones in the classroom, 60 percent said those policies were difficult to enforce.
Tamika Kimble, an 8th and 9th grade science teacher at Sylvan Hill Junior High School in Sherwood, Arkansas, has a sign posted in her classroom that cellphones are not allowed. Even so, she frequently has to confiscate phones.
鈥淪ometimes I鈥檒l be teaching, and I notice their heads are down鈥擨 know they鈥檙e on their phones,鈥� Kimble said. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 paid to teach you to learn something, that鈥檚 what I need you to do. I鈥檓 not going to allow you to play games on your phone. You are there to learn.鈥�
Yet keeping students engaged in instruction and off their phones is a constant battle for many teachers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like an addiction,鈥� said Kelly Chevalier, a science teacher at Crown Point High School in northwest Indiana. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 put them away for any amount of time.鈥�
Her students are constantly messaging their friends, scrolling social media, Googling information, listening to music, watching shows, and playing games on their phones.
And when students were told to turn their phones off and put them away for the duration of a standardized exam, they panicked: 鈥淭he idea of being without their phone for three hours鈥攊t literally causes some of them physiological anxiety,鈥� Chevalier said.
Chevalier said she sees phones akin to cars. Parents would never give their children the car keys and tell them to drive without any preparation, she said. Students need to learn how to use phones鈥攁nd the unfettered access to a world of both information and mis- and disinformation鈥攔esponsibly, too.
Yet parents are not always partners in teachers鈥� efforts to stem the use of phones in class, teachers say.
Sometimes, Chevalier will tell a student to put away their phone鈥攁nd they鈥檒l respond that they鈥檙e texting their mom, who鈥檚 asking them what they want from the store.
Kimble said she鈥檚 experienced pushback from parents when she or school leaders have taken students鈥� phones.
鈥淭he parents feel like, 鈥楾his is my phone, I bought it. You have no right to take it,鈥欌�� Kimble said. 鈥淏ut this is my classroom. I have a right to take it, and I have a right to teach.鈥�
The Pew survey found that 79 percent of teachers say parents do too little when it comes to holding their children accountable if they misbehave in school. Sixty-three percent of all teachers鈥攁nd three-fourths of high school teachers鈥攕ay parents do too little to ensure their children鈥檚 attendance.
鈥淚 think one striking finding [from the survey] is that while teachers navigate through all these challenges, they just don鈥檛 feel like they鈥檙e getting the support or reinforcement they need from parents,鈥� said Luona Lin, a research associate at Pew Research Center.
Most teachers鈥�65 percent鈥攄o say that parents show appreciation for their efforts at least sometimes, with about a quarter saying it happens frequently.
Even so, 40 percent of teachers say that parents at least sometimes communicate with them in a disrespectful way.
Teachers are less satisfied with their jobs than other workers
Only a third of teachers say they鈥檙e 鈥渆xtremely鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� satisfied with their job overall, compared to about half of all U.S. workers. EdWeek鈥檚 The State of Teaching survey, released last month, found similar themes of low morale, an ambivalence toward recommending their profession to loved ones, and a heavy workload.
Indeed, the Pew survey found that more than 8 in 10 teachers said there鈥檚 not enough time in the day to get all their work done鈥攎ostly because they simply have too much work to do, respondents said, but also because they have other responsibilities, like hallway or lunch duty, that cut into their core work.
A strong majority of teachers said their job is often stressful (77 percent) or overwhelming (68 percent). Smaller majorities said their job is often fulfilling (56 percent) or enjoyable (53 percent).
Female teachers are more likely than male teachers to say their job is frequently stressful or overwhelming. Similarly, female teachers are more likely to say that work-life balance is difficult for them to achieve.
Lin pointed to are more likely than male workers to say their job is stressful and overwhelming all or most of the time. That鈥檚 perhaps in part because research shows typically take on a heavier load at home with household chores and caregiving responsibilities.
The Pew survey also found that 82 percent of teachers say that the overall state of public K-12 education has gotten worse in the last five years, with large shares pointing to the current political climate, the lasting effects of the pandemic, and changes in the availability of funding and resources.
About half of teachers expect the state of education to be worse five years from now.
Meanwhile, Pew separately surveyed about 5,000 U.S. adults in November and found that about . Just 16 percent say it鈥檚 going in the right direction; the rest aren鈥檛 sure.
Large shares of people who held a negative view of the education system pointed to the following reasons: schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects; teachers are bringing their personal political and social views into the classroom; and schools don鈥檛 have the funding and resources they need.
Lin highlighted the fact that while both teachers and the general public hold a largely negative view of education, their reasons for doing so are mostly different.
鈥淎ll these issues that teachers are facing in the classroom ... they鈥檙e not known to the general public,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e definitely hope that our report sparks some discussion.鈥�
