New survey of teachers finds most are concerned their students are falling behind

A new report from the education advocacy organization Educators for Excellence (E4E) says teachers today believe that most of their students are struggling in their coursework, despite efforts to combat learning loss during the pandemic and optimism about emerging technologies in the classroom. 

According to the annual report, which surveyed 1,000 teachers across the country, 70 percent of teachers believe that their students are falling behind academically, highlighting a need for increased academic support. What’s more, the report noted that 64 percent of teachers believe their students’ mental well-being is worse compared to before COVID-19. 

“Teachers report that students are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic,” Becky Trammell, a special education teacher from Minnesota, said during a presentation last week on the report, adding that “only 23 percent of teachers believe that their school very effectively meets the academic needs of all of its students.” 

The report also noted that morale among teachers remains at an all-time low following a massive drop in teachers’ job outlooks during COVID-19, with just 16 percent today saying they would recommend the profession to others. It said that teachers’ confidence in union efforts to improve salaries and working conditions has been diminishing, adding that satisfaction with efforts to transform the profession remains low as well. 

In addition, the study also indicated that teachers have expressed the need for better professional development training to update instructional practices, adding that teachers are also calling for “more collaborative and dynamic work environments” that deviate from the traditional one-teacher, one-classroom model, in order to better support student success. Teachers also want more guidance and training on how to utilize artificial intelligence tools in the classroom as the technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous in education settings, according to the report. 

Touching more on AI, the report said 17 percent of teachers are “already confidently leveraging AI,” while 13 percent of teachers still oppose its use in the classroom altogether. The majority of teachers sit somewhere in the middle, expressing a mix of curiosity and hesitancy about the emerging technology in an academic setting. Among teachers of color, however, instructors overwhelmingly support the use of the technology in the classroom, with more than half saying they believe AI “has the potential to transform teaching and learning in a positive way,” compared to only 14 percent of teachers nationally. 

“We definitely do see a need for training in this area,” Daniel Gannon, a high school instructor from New York, said during last week’s presentation. “Nearly two-thirds want additional training on how to apply it in their teaching.”