Nearly 4 of every 10 teachers in the United States say their students are not on track to succeed in school, a new poll finds.
The poll—released by Gallup and The Walton Family Foundation on April 29—takes the pulse of educators on a range of topics related to student achievement and teacher job satisfaction.
That concern runs even deeper among certain groups: Roughly 44 percent of middle school teachers and 47 percent of those working in schools with high percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch say their students aren’t on track to succeed.
“We have a sense of the types of activities that help teachers feel like their students are ready to succeed, and as you would expect, that involves things like having the materials and equipment that you need to do your work,” said Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher at Gallup. “If you’re in a more funded school, you’re probably less likely to face budgetary constraints to having the materials and equipment you need.”
The report also notes an important correlation between teachers who agree their students are on track to succeed and teachers who feel their students are excited about what they’re learning. Seventy-six percent of teachers who feel their students are on track can be paired with the 83 percent of teachers who say their students are excited about what they are learning in class.
“Students are telling us when their teachers are excited and engaged in the classroom, the students themselves are feeding off of that,” said Hrynowski.
Are cellphones derailing student focus?
Some educators suggest cellphones could be at least one big reason why many teachers feel their students are not on track to succeed in school.
Kimberly Smith, a 7th grade science teacher in the Santa Rosa County schools in Florida, told Education Week that she doesn’t believe kids are prepared for the real world.
Smith added that students’ excessive cellphone use has made them less likely to be able to concentrate on learning in class.
“[Students] cannot single task,” said Smith. “They just don’t have an idea of how to stay focused on one thing, and they’re so used to things moving at such a high pace that when you start talking, they just tune out.”
Mykel Estes, a reading language arts teacher for the Dallas Independent School District, agrees, although he told Education Week his students are generally on track to succeed in school.
He said it has been harder to get kids to pay attention in school since the pandemic ended. “School brings so much structure and order and what middle schooler isn’t going to enjoy being at home?” he said. “The further we get removed from break-out rooms and Zoom, the easier it’ll become a distant memory.”
Teacher job satisfaction is based on support in the workplace
Two-thirds of K-12 teachers reported feeling satisfied with their workplace, according to the Gallup and Walton Family Foundation survey.
While satisfaction can be attributed to higher pay and manageable workload, educators’ job satisfaction is also related to the quality of their school leadership and the resources available to them.
“What they’re running into is those resource constraints, leadership constraints, things like that that are more important and predictive in whether they feel like they’re satisfied at work,” said Hrynowski.
Estes and Smith both said they felt their administrations were supportive of teachers, which made a big difference in their workplaces. “Having strong support from your administration is essential, like feeling validated for me is probably one of the most important things they do,” said Smith.
Federal policy changes may test teacher morale
It is a challenging time for teachers as they face external pressures to adapt to changes coming from the White House. On April 23, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for teachers to be trained on using artificial intelligence regularly in their classrooms. Trump has also canceled several grants and contracts affecting teacher preparation programs and overall public school funding.
Other policy shifts affecting K-12 education—such as the White House ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools—could have a trickle-down effect on how teachers feel about their jobs.
The Gallup and Walton Family Foundation poll was conducted in Fall 2024, so there isn’t data available yet about the effects of the federal changes on teacher satisfaction. But Hrynowski suggests their job satisfaction has more to do with their immediate classroom needs and resources than school characteristics, like if it is a middle school versus a high school.
“I think [teacher workplace satisfaction] has more to do with what do the on-the-ground conditions look like in these schools,” he said. “Are teachers more or less likely to have the materials and equipment they need?”
Hrynowski added: “So, we do have a number of different mechanisms from both sides of the equation that are telling us [that] making sure teachers are supported and have everything they need to do their job well is really important for the students.”
