Biggest Challenges for Educators Worldwide Stem from Student Challenges Outside the Classroom

Dive Brief:

• A majority of educators at various education levels globally (57%) indicated challenges outside the classroom — such as issues at home and inadequate family support — as the primary hindrance to student achievement, according to a Morning Consult and McGraw Hill survey published Tuesday.

• Nearly half of educators stated that obstacles related to behavior and mental health impede student success, with 36% of teachers attributing difficulties to students lacking essential skills.

• Regarding artificial intelligence, 41% viewed the technology as predominantly beneficial for educational outcomes, while about 20% perceived its effects as mostly negative.

Dive Insight:

The survey involved 1,000 educators from pre-K-12 to higher education across 19 nations, including the U.S. Morning Consult, a business intelligence firm, conducted the survey on behalf of McGraw Hill, a global education publishing and technology company.

In the U.S., the majority of pre-K-12 teachers (76%) identified managing students’ behavior and mental health needs as their primary challenge. Keeping students engaged ranked as the second most prominent hurdle for U.S. educators.

Across most regions globally covered in the study, pre-K-12 educators cited managing students’ behavior or mental health needs as one of their top two challenges.

Among higher education faculty in the U.S., student engagement was highlighted as the major challenge (68%), followed by addressing politicization in education (57%).