New EdChoice Report Reveals How Teachers Manage Time, Distractions, and Discipline Issues In School

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., July 6, 2022 – EdChoice, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to empowering families to choose the best school environment for their children, released a new national report for July 2022 about how teachers spend their time in and out of school, which includes time spent managing classroom disruptions and non-teaching duties.

“The data coming out of this report tells us valuable information on how educators are spending their time,” said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. “Unfortunately, student disciplinary issues were the leading disruption in all private, public charter, and traditional public schools, and that is something we need to work to address. Our students’ time in the classroom is precious so we must take action to ensure educators are able to focus on teaching and not having to deal with excessive classroom interruptions.”

According to the survey, 59% of teachers said that they had to spend non-instructional time addressing student discipline issues in the previous week. More than half of those teachers said they spent more than one hour doing so. The next most popular non-teaching time uses were committee and staff meetings, in which 54% of surveyed teachers said they participated in the previous week.

Seventy-one percent of teachers spend fewer than five hours weekly working outside of the school day with 62% of teachers spending less than one hour on pre-instruction activities, and 64% of teachers spending less than one hour on post-instruction activities.

Other key findings include:

• Direct, whole class instruction is the most popular educational modality chosen by teachers, with 81% reporting that they had engaged in direct, whole class instruction in the previous week. Of those teachers, 24% said that they spent more than 10 hours engaged in it.
• 58% of teachers reported that student disciplinary issues interrupt their class more than any other interruption (student questions/concerns, Intercom announcements, administrators, personal matters).
• There are not large differences in teacher time use between sectors (traditional public, charter, and private).

EdChoice partnered with Hanover Research, who administered the online survey to a national sample of teachers in the United States. The survey was conducted February 4 to 8, 2022. The study obtained responses from 686 teachers. For more information, go to: http://www.edchoice.org/how-do-teachers-spend-their-time

About EdChoice
EdChoice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advances educational freedom and choice for all as a pathway to successful lives and a stronger society. We are committed to understanding and pursuing a K–12 education ecosystem that empowers every family to choose the learning environment that fits their children’s needs best. EdChoice’s researchers provide high-quality data and analysis to inform state and national conversations about educational choice. To learn more about EdChoice, visit: www.edchoice.org.

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