ISTE Highlights: PowerSchool Releases Data in Annual Education Focus Report

PowerSchool today released the results of its 2024 Education Focus Report for the 2024-2025 school year. The report offers an in-depth analysis of the key challenges and innovations currently shaping the U.S. education landscape heading into the 2024-2025 school year. Based on a national survey of 1,620 educators, along with 12 focus groups and 12 interviews involving more than 75 district leaders, teachers, parents, and students, the report provides critical insights into the changing needs and priorities of the education community.

eSchool had a chance to take a look at the data in Denver last month when from PowerSchool Vice President of Educational Strategy, Ryan Imbriale (left) hosted a panel with K-12 educators, which included:

• Pati Ruiz, Senior Director of edtech and Emerging Technologies, Digital Promise
• Addison Davis, Partner and Educational Consultant at Strategos Group
• Susan Moore, Director of technology, Meriden Public Schools (CT)

Click below to view an excerpt:

Download the report edtech-focus-report-2024/”>here

Below is an overview of some of the key insights and learnings that emerge from the report:

Educators see the benefits of personalized learning, but traditional beliefs prevent it:

• PowerSchool found that educational leaders view competency- and mastery-based learning as key to improving student engagement and outcomes. However, educators said that changing traditional beliefs about what education looks like is the number one obstacle to implementing more personalized learning models, showing that many leaders recognize the need for personalized learning but struggle to change traditional views.

Educators are open to new technologies like ai, but are still in a “wait and see” situation:

• 70% of district leaders believe ai can improve teaching and learning, up from 53% in 2023, and 60% of school leaders and educators believe ai can improve teacher practice and development.
• Despite growing enthusiasm for ai in the classroom, only 8% of respondents are using ai in classrooms and only one in five district leaders reported that their school system is developing guidance on ai.
• Many districts are in a “wait and see” position, looking to early adopters and third parties for guidance on how to safely implement ai technology.

Staffing, hardware purchases, mentoring programs and teacher pay raises are the top four initiatives that education leaders plan to put aside financially this school year:

• When education leaders were asked which initiatives they would consolidate or stop altogether in the 2024-2025 school year, staffing (45%), purchasing new hardware (30%), mentoring programs (25%), and teacher pay increases (22%) emerged as the top four areas to financially deprioritize.

Caregivers want more personalized communication:

• Improving communication and engagement between schools and homes is vital to student success, but caregivers are busy and must navigate a complex flow of information about their children’s education on a daily basis.

• PowerSchool surveyed caregivers about their experience communicating with schools and found that they would like to receive more personalized and streamlined notifications from schools about schedules, policies, and key milestones—ideally all through one tool, not many.
• They also said they are rarely asked about their communication preferences. For example, some said they receive text messages for one child and emails and snail mail for another child, but their schools did not invite them to give input on what is best for them.

Disconnection and lack of family support are the main reasons for the decline in student attendance:

• When it comes to attendance, seven in ten educators agree that student attendance has been a major challenge in their school system since the pandemic, with disconnection, lack of family support, and mental health issues being the top three reasons.

Teachers don't believe the “one teacher, many students” model works for students:

In exploring the modern education workforce, PowerSchool found that educators are seeking better work-life balance, professional development, and intuitive technology.

• Leaders said the most important things to address to make the teaching profession more sustainable are “reducing teacher workloads, student intervention and communication with parents.”
• And when asked what teaching model schools follow, more than seven in ten said the “one teacher, many students” model is the mainstay, although nearly two-fifths of educators (36%) said the “one teacher, many students” model does not work for students.
• PowerSchool also found that the top three things that increase teachers' workload are:

1. Disturbing behavior
2. Planning student intervention
3. Communication and Parent Involvement

Kevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print and in-person. He is an acclaimed writer, editor and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. Kevin can be reached at [email protected]

Latest posts by Kevin Hogan (see everything)