Equity

Report: More Equity Needed in K–12 Education

• By Richard Chang
• 11/18/16

A new research project from Scholastic finds that the overwhelming majority of educators (97 percent) agree that “equity in education for all children should be a national priority.”

Teachers and principals also agree (87 percent) that “many of their students face barriers to learning that come from outside the school environment.” While a greater percentage of educators in high-poverty schools (98 percent) report having students with barriers, 66 percent say the same in low-poverty schools.

The Teacher & Principal School Report, released Thursday, surveyed more than 4,700 public school pre-K–12 teachers and principals representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Some other key findings include:

• Both teachers and principals are spending their own money to help meet students’ needs. On average during the past year, teachers in high-poverty schools spent $672, and teachers in low poverty schools spent $495;
• Principals in high-poverty schools spent $1,1014, and principals in low-poverty schools spent $514;
• Only 46 percent of teachers in high-poverty schools received discretionary funds from their school, district or parent-teacher organizations, compared to 61 percent of teachers in low-poverty schools;
• Teachers identified their top five funding priorities to address barriers to learning. Forty-seven percent said they needed technology devices and digital resources in school;
• Forty-eight percent of teachers and 39 percent of principals said access to the Internet and other learning resources outside of school is not adequately available for their students; and
• Among teachers and principals, 65 percent in high-poverty schools and 57 percent in mid-high-poverty schools said access to the Internet and other learning resources outside of school is not adequately available for their students.

The full report is available on the Scholastic website. Downloadable infographics are also available on Scholastic’s media site.