Forty-Four Percent of Public School Students Began 2023-24 Year Behind Grade Level in at Least One Academic Subject

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine topics on public school staffing vacancies, learning recovery, and tutoring during the 2023-24 school year as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools. Key Findings Public School Staffing Vacancies As of October 2023, 37 percent of public schools were operating with at least one teaching vacancy, down from the 44 percent that were operating with at least one teaching vacancy as of October 2022. This includes 21 percent of public schools operating with multiple teaching vacancies. Compared to the overall population of schools operating with multiple teaching vacancies (21 percent), higher percentages of these groups of schools were operating with multiple teaching vacancies; schools with 1,000 students or more, 35 percent; schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, 32 percent; and schools with a student body made up of 76 percent or more students of color, 31 percent Nationally, 3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2023. Some of the teaching positions with the highest percentages of vacant positions were special education (6 percent), career or technical education (5 percent) and ESL or bilingual education (5 percent). As of October 2023, 45 percent of public schools were operating with at least one non-teaching staff vacancy, which was not statistically different from the 40 percent operating this way in October 2022. This includes 29 percent of public schools operating with multiple non-teaching staff vacancies. Compared to the overall population of public schools operating with multiple non-teaching staff vacancies (29 percent), larger percentages of public schools with 1,000 or more students (44 percent) and with a student body made up of 76 percent or more students of color (37 percent) were operating with multiple non-teaching staff vacancies, while smaller percentages of schools with a student body made up of 25 percent or fewer students of color (23 percent) and in rural areas (18 percent) were doing so. Across the country, 6 percent of all public school non-teaching staff positions were vacant as of October 2023. Some of the non-teaching staff positions for which the highest percentages of vacant positions were reported include tutors (11 percent), classroom aides (8 percent), and transportation staff (7 percent). The most commonly reported ways that teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies have impacted public schools during the 2023-24 school year are: Increased need to use non-teaching staff outside of intended duties (42 percent) Increased need to use teachers outside of intended duties (40 percent) Increased class sizes (28 percent) Sharing of teachers and/or staff with other schools (24 percent) Learning Recovery and Tutoring Public school leaders estimated that 44 percent of their students began the 2023-24 school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject. This is a 5 percentage-point decrease in the percentage estimated by principals at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. For the 2023-24 school year, the following types of public schools reported higher percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average: Public schools with a student body made up of 76 percent or higher students of color (59 percent behind grade level) Public schools in high-poverty neighborhoods (56 percent behind grade level) Public schools in the western United States (53 percent behind grade level) Public schools in cities (53 percent behind grade level) For the 2023-24 school year, the following types of public schools reported lower percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average : Public schools in low poverty neighborhoods (41 percent) Public schools with a student body made up of 25 percent or lower students of color (33 percent) Public schools with a student body made up of 26 to 75 percent students of color (41 percent) Public schools in the northeast United States (37 percent) Public schools in rural areas (39 percent) Public schools with 1,000 or more students (36 percent) Among schools that reported having students who began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject, smaller percentages of schools in 2023-24 compared to the 2022-23 school year reported students being behind in English or Language Arts (97 versus 99 percent), sciences (74 versus 81 percent), and social studies (54 versus 69 percent). For the 2023-24 school year, 82 percent of public schools are offering some type of tutoring program. Specifically: Fifty-two percent of public schools are offering standard tutoring, a lower percentage than did so last school year (59 percent). Thirty-nine percent of public schools are offering high-dosage tutoring, which was not statistically different from the percentage that did so last school year (37 percent). Fourteen percent of public schools are offering self-paced tutoring, a lower percentage than did so last school year (21 percent). Eight percent of public schools are offering on-demand online tutoring (not asked about during last school year). Ten percent of public schools are offering some type of tutoring other than those that were specifically asked about, a higher percentage than reported doing so last school year (5 percent). Nationally, principals estimated that about 11 percent of all public school students have received standard tutoring, 11 percent have received high-dosage tutoring, 6 percent have received self-paced tutoring, and 1 percent have accessed on-demand tutoring programs offered by public schools during the 2023-24 school year. When asked about the perceived effectiveness of various tutoring programs, the following percentages of public schools that offer each type of tutoring program reported the following as “very” or “extremely” effective for improving student outcomes1: Standard tutoring – 22 percent High-dosage tutoring – 38 percent Self-paced tutoring – 22 percent Seventy percent of public schools offering high-dosage tutoring reported using federal funds (ESSER I, ESSER II, ARP ESSER, or other federal grants or programs) to support this tutoring program; 55 percent offering standard tutoring used federal funds to support it; 42 percent offering self-paced tutoring used federal funds to support it; and 33 percent offering on-demand tutoring used federal funds to support it. Additionally, nearly half of the public schools offering standard (46 percent), high-dosage (49 percent), or self-paced (47 percent) tutoring did so with district or school financial funding. Thirty-two percent used district or school financial funding to support on-demand tutoring programs. 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 October 10 and October 24 of this year, came from 1,421 participating public K-12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia. 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.