Research

A new national survey sheds light on how teachers spend their time, both in and out of the classroom. The survey, directed by Michael McShane of EdChoice in partnership with Hanover Research, reflects the views and experiences of 686 traditional public, charter, and private school teachers. McShane, who is the director of national research at EdChoice, wrote about the findings in Forbes yesterday.

What are some of the survey’s topline findings?

Most teachers spend a lot of time on direct instruction as well as working individually with students–or leading small groups. A range of non-teaching tasks–from professional development to meetings to test-related work– also consumes considerable time for teachers. Student discipline problems are pervasive–and often intrude on classroom teaching. Here’s a breakdown of some of the key findings.

Inside the classroom: Direct, whole-class instruction reigns supreme

• 81% of teachers had provided direct, whole-class instruction within the past week; 44% spent at least 5 hours doing so and 24% spent over 10 hours.
• 78% had worked with students individually; 18% had spent at least 5 hours doing so and 6% spent over 10 hours.

Source: Michael McShane, “How Do Teachers Spend Their Time?” Ed Choice

Outside the classroom: Test prep, meetings, professional development, student discipline, and more occupy teachers’ time

What about non-teaching tasks? Dealing with student discipline, attending staff meetings, engaging in professional development, and preparing for assessments are among the tasks requiring considerable amounts of teachers’ time.

Source: “How Do Teachers Spend Their Time?”

Student discipline often intrudes on classroom teaching time

Many teachers report having to deal with student disciplinary issues. In fact, in terms of classroom interruptions, student disciplinary problems topped the list.

Source: “How Do Teachers Spend Their Time?”

McShane did not find significant differences, by school sector, in teachers’ allocations of work time outside the classroom. However, he did find meaningful differences within the overall population of teachers. Here’s what he wrote in Forbes:

When I asked a question about how much time teachers spend working outside of school hours, the answers were similar from public, private, and charter school teachers. But looking within just the public school sector we see a spread of 8% of teachers spending less than an hour per week and 7% spending more than 10. Those are serious difference in teachers’ experiences that could be happening within the same school district or even building.

Find the full study write-up here.

States with abundant, accessible school choice programs boast higher student performance. That’s the key finding of a new University of Arkansas study from researchers Patrick Wolf, Jay Greene, Matthew Ladner, and James Paul.

Specifically, the study evaluated states’ levels of education freedom, along with student performance on NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” NAEP tests students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades.

The report authors write:

To measure choice, researchers evaluated private, charter, homeschool, and public school choice programs in each of the 50 states. For instance, they looked at the proportion of all K-12 students involved in each kind of program. They also considered states’ charter and homeschool laws.

Then, they created a 2021 Education Freedom Index, building on an earlier index created in 2000. Compared to other states, North Carolina ranked 38th in education freedom in 2000 and 31st in 2021.

In overall accessibility of charter schools, NC ranked 20th. Here’s a screenshot–but see page 11 of the report for the full ranking.

The authors conclude:

Read NC Senate Leader Phil Berger’s release about the study here.