No Overall Change in the Number of Teaching Positions Since Last School Year and Other Stats

 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine school staffing vacancies and tutoring availability, during the 2024-25 school year, as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools. All data can be found on the SPP interactive dashboard. Below is a summary of some key findings from this release. Key Findings Public School Staffing Vacancies When compared to last school year, 31 percent of public schools reported losing teaching position(s) and 27 percent reported adding new teaching position(s). The average difference in total number of teaching positions when compared to last school year (2023-24) rounds to zero. Public schools that lost teaching positions reported the reasons for losing teaching positions included decreased enrollment (55 percent) and loss of funding or budget cuts (52 percent). Public schools that added teaching positions reported the reasons for adding new teaching positions included increased enrollment (60 percent) and addition of new classes or courses (27 percent). As of October 2024, 50 percent of public school leaders reported feeling that their school was understaffed, an increase from 45 percent of schools that reported feeling understaffed in August 2023. Below are the percentages of schools reporting feeling understaffed in specific areas for which they offer positions as of October 2024. Special Education – 34 percent Classroom aide – 32 percent Mental health professional (e.g., psychologist, social worker) – 28 percent Academic interventionist – 24 percent General Elementary – 22 percent English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education – 20 percent Administrative staff – 17 percent Mathematics – 16 percent Career or technical education – 15 percent Custodial – 15 percent Tutor – 15 percent Academic counselor – 14 percent Instructional coach – 14 percent English or language arts – 13 percent Biology or life sciences – 12 percent Physical sciences (e.g., chemistry, physics, earth sciences) – 12 percent Foreign languages – 9 percent Medical professional (e.g., nurse, nurse’s aide) – 9 percent Music or arts – 9 percent Nutrition (e.g., food preparation, cafeteria workers) – 9 percent Social studies – 9 percent Computer science – 8 percent Technology specialist – 8 percent Physical education or health – 7 percent As of October 2024, on average, U.S. public schools had 3 teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies. As of October 2024, 35 percent of public schools reported having one or more teaching vacancies (37 percent were operating with at least one teaching vacancy as of October 2023). This includes 20 percent of public schools that were operating with multiple teaching vacancies as of October 2024. Compared to the national percentage (20 percent), higher percentages of schools with 1,000 or more students (32 percent), with a student body made up of 76 percent or higher students of color (26 percent), and in cities (26 percent) reported operating with multiple teaching vacancies. Compared to the national percentage (20 percent), a lower percentage of schools with a student body made up of less than 25 percent students of color (14 percent) reported operating with multiple teaching vacancies. Nationally, 3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2024 (3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2023). Below is the average percentage of vacant teaching positions across public schools as of October 2024, by position, among schools offering that position. Biology or life sciences – 5 percent Career or technical education – 5 percent ESL or bilingual education – 5 percent Foreign languages – 5 percent Other teaching positions not listed – 5 percent Physical education or health – 5 percent Special education – 5 percent Computer science – 4 percent Mathematics – 4 percent Physical sciences – 4 percent English or language arts – 3 percent Music or arts – 3 percent Social studies – 3 percent General elementary – 2 percent As of October 2024, 41 percent of public schools were operating with at least 1 non-teaching staff vacancy, which was lower than the 45 percent operating this way in October 2023. This includes 24 percent of public schools operating with multiple non-teaching staff vacancies. Compared to the national percentage (24 percent), a lower percentage of schools with less than 300 students (18 percent) reported operating with multiple non-teaching vacancies. Nationally, 6 percent of all public school non-teaching staff positions were vacant as of October 2024 (6 percent of all public school non-teaching positions were vacant as of October 2023). The table below displays the average percentage of vacant non-teaching staff positions across public schools as of October 2024 by position, among schools offering that position. Classroom aide – 7 percent Other staff position not listed – 7 percent Transportation staff – 7 percent Custodial staff – 6 percent Tutor – 6 percent Instructional coaches – 5 percent Nutrition staff (e.g., food preparation, cafeteria workers) – 5 percent Academic counselor – 4 percent Academic interventionist – 4 percent Mental health professional (e.g., psychologist, social worker) – 4 percent Medical professional (e.g., nurse, nurse’s aide) – 4 percent Technology specialist – 4 percent Administrative staff – 3 percent School leaders were asked about ways that teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies have impacted their school during the 2024–25 school year. Some of the commonly chose ways among schools with at least one teaching or non-teaching staff vacancy were: Increased need to use non-teaching staff outside of their intended duties (43 percent) Increased need to use teachers outside of their intended duties (42 percent) Increased class sizes (29 percent) Sharing of teachers and/or staff with other schools (22 percent) Learning Recovery and Tutoring Public school leaders estimated that 40 percent of students began the 2024–25 school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject. For the 2024–25 school year, the following types of public schools reported higher percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average: in high-poverty neighborhoods (52 percent behind grade level) with a student body made up of 76 percent or higher students of color (52 percent behind grade level) in cities (48 percent behind grade level) in schools with less than 300 students (48 percent behind grade level) in the West (46 percent behind grade level) For the 2024–25 school year, the following types of public schools reported lower percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average: in high/secondary schools (33 percent behind grade level) with a student body made up of 25 percent or lower students of color (30 percent) Below are public school leaders’ estimates of the percentage of students who began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject by school year as estimated in June 2022 (pre-pandemic estimates and 2021–22), December 2022 (2022–23), October 2023 (2023–24), and October 2024 (2024–25). Asterisks indicate a statistically significant differences (p < .05) compared to the 2024-25 school year. Typical school year pre-pandemic – 32 percent* 2021-22 school year – 45 percent* 2022-23 school year – 47 percent* 2023-24 school year – 42 percent 2024-25 school year – 40 percent Among schools that reported having students who began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject, most reported at least some students were behind grade level in math and in English or Language Arts (98 percent each). In October 2024, 78 percent of public schools reported having provided some type of tutoring during the school year, and 29 percent reported having provided two or more types of tutoring. Below are the percentages of public schools that had provided various types of tutoring to their students as of October 2023 (left) and October 2024 (right). Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference (p < .05) compared to October 2023. Any tutoring: 82 percent | 78 percent* Two or more types of tutoring: 32 percent | 29 percent Standard tutoring: 52 percent | 48 percent* High-dosage tutoring: 39 percent | 37 percent Self-paced tutoring: 14 percent | 15 percent On-demand online tutoring: 8 percent | 8 percent Other tutoring: 10 percent | 11 percent Fifty-one percent of public schools strongly or moderately agreed, and 28 percent strongly or moderately disagreed, that “My school is able to effectively provide ___ tutoring to all students in need,” for all tutoring options available at their school. For the 2024–25 school year 46 percent of public schools reported using federal funds to support tutoring, a lower percentage than reported during the 2023–24 school year  (65 percent). Twenty-two percent of public schools reported providing no tutoring to students at their school as of October 2024. Reasons for not doing so include: Lack of, or reductions in, funding to support tutoring—48 percent Cannot find staff to support tutoring—36 percent Time limitations (i.e., cannot find enough time to support tutoring)—23 percent Implementing tutoring is not a priority for the school—15 percent Daily Attendance The average daily student attendance at public schools during this month’s collection window as reported by school leaders was 92 percent.