ERIC Number: ED617354
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 12
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
District Leaders' Concerns about Mental Health and Political Polarization in Schools: Selected Findings from the Fourth American School District Panel Survey. Data Note: Insights from the American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A956-8
Diliberti, Melissa Kay; Schwartz, Heather L.
RAND Corporation
Policymakers had hoped that the 2021-2022 school year would be a chance to recover from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic--related disruptions to schooling. Instead, media reports of staff shortages, heated or even violent school board meetings, increased student misbehavior, low student and teacher attendance, and enrollment declines suggest increased -- rather than decreased -- problems during this third pandemic school year. To learn about the prevalence of these challenges nationwide, RAND researchers surveyed 359 district and charter network leaders in the American School District Panel between October 25, 2021, and December 10, 2021. Survey results suggest that districts are confronting serious challenges in the 2021-2022 school year that might be getting in the way of student learning. Although some challenges, such as student and staff mental health, are nearly universal across districts, other challenges are more localized. Historically marginalized districts are confronting extra challenges this school year, such as getting students back in school and low teacher attendance, while a higher percentage of historically advantaged districts are encountering political polarization about COVID-19. [For the companion report "Flux in the Educator Labor Market: Acute Staff Shortages and Projected Superintendent Departures. Selected Findings from the Fourth American School District Panel Survey. Data Note: Insights from the American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A956-9," see ED617372.]
Descriptors: School Districts, Administrator Attitudes, Mental Health, Political Issues, Public Schools, Charter Schools, Learner Engagement, Discipline, Attendance, Teacher Attendance, Declining Enrollment, Disadvantaged Schools, COVID-19, Pandemics, Immunization Programs, Critical Theory, Race, Federal Aid, Labor Supply, Educational Finance, Elementary Secondary Education
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Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Authoring Institution: RAND Education and Labor
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A