Most Schools Report Some Concern About Students Meeting Academic Standards and Issues Related to Staffing Shortages

Also, about two-thirds of public school leaders believe state-mandated testing will not accurately measure the ability of students with individualized education plans or who are English learners  

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Most public school leaders, 92 percent, indicated at least some level of concern about their students meeting academic standards, according to new data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). In addition, 80 percent of school leaders reported some level of concern about issues related to staffing shortages, such as increased class sizes or staff doing work outside of their intended duties.

"We know that the job of public school leaders has become increasingly complex and there is a constellation of challenges that keep them up at night," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. "What they are telling us through this latest School Pulse Panel survey is that the majority of them have some level of concern related to important issues that we asked them about, with most (92 percent) saying they were concerned about students meeting academic standards and 8 in 10 saying they were concerned about issues related to staffing shortages. Also, about 4 in 10 reported they are moderately or extremely concerned about students' mental health, as well as the mental health of teachers and staff. It's a Herculean task to manage all these challenges, and we hope that understanding what school leaders are facing will identify essential areas of support." 

About 4 in 10 school leaders said they were "moderately" or "extremely" concerned about their students' mental health (43 percent) and the mental health of their teachers or staff (41 percent). In fact, 27 percent of respondents said they were "moderately" or "extremely" concerned about their own mental health. Next month's School Pulse Panel data release will delve deeper into mental health services available to students and staff in public schools.

Additionally, the latest School Pulse Panel survey provides insights on school leaders' perceptions of state-mandated assessments, as well as social and emotional skills development in schools, which in recent years has become a growing area of attention in public education.

Eighty-five percent of public schools agreed that the culture at their school supports the development of students' social and emotional skills in school, with 49 percent of schools indicating they "strongly agree" that this is the case. About two-thirds of schools (63 percent) use a formal curriculum designed to support the development of students' social and emotional skills, the data show.

Among those schools with a formal curriculum, 27 percent said it has been "very effective" or "extremely effective" at improving student outcomes and 72 percent said time limitations were a barrier to implementing the curriculum.

Leaders of public schools that participate in state-mandated testing for mathematics (96 percent) or for English language arts and literacy (96 percent) were asked about the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with statements related to the main state-mandated tests that their students will be given during the 2023-24 school year.

Approximately two-thirds of these public schools "somewhat" or "strongly" agreed that they support the use of these assessments to measure student mastery of state standards, with 66 percent for English language arts (ELA) and 62 percent for math. About three-quarters "somewhat" or "strongly" agreed that the assessments will provide useful data to inform classroom instruction (75 percent for ELA and 74 percent for math).

However, about two-thirds of public schools agreed that state-mandated testing in math and ELA will not accurately measure the ability of students with individualized education plans (IEPs) (68 percent for ELA and 67 percent for math) or who are English Learner (EL/ELL/ESL) students (68 percent for ELA and 67 percent for math).

The findings released today are part of an experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel, NCES's innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on public K-12 schools in the U.S. The data, collected between February 13 and 27 of 2024, came from 1,689 participating public K-12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia.

Additional data collected from 99 public K-12 schools in the U.S. Outlying Areas – American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – are also available. Results from this collection include the finding that 96 percent of Outlying Area public school leaders report some level of concern about students meeting academic standards.

Experimental data products are innovative statistical tools created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all of NCES's quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of other relevant products to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release.

All data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel dashboard at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/results.asp.

The full press release is available
https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/4_16_2024.asp.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.

Follow NCES on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube and subscribe to the NCES Newsflash to receive email notifications when new data are released.

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.

Contact:
Josh De La Rosa, National Center for Education Statistics, [email protected]
Erik Robelen, Hager Sharp, [email protected]

SOURCE National Center for Education Statistics