Hey Tappsters!
Welcome to the USA Teacher Tapp blog 🎉 Five weeks in, and things are really picking up as we uncover more insights. We’ve got so much to share this week!
Teacher Tapp gets even better as more teachers join! Spread the word to your colleagues, and let’s grow the community. The easiest link to share is onelink.to/teachertapp – it takes you right to the app store! 📲✨
Now, let’s dive into this week’s round-up of fresh edu-data insights…
1. Polling day
This week, people across the country exercised their right to vote – but how many schools had their days disrupted due to being used as polling stations for the presidential elections?
For half (50%) of schools, it was business as usual, but 39% of schools closed their doors to pupils altogether. And for a smaller number (11%) the day was disrupted by part closure. Is this a similar pattern to your district?
With so much press coverage about the election, we also wondered if teachers had noticed an increase in students’ curiosity about politics? 57% said students have been asking a “more than usual” number of questions about topics like civics or government. Perhaps this increased interest will lead to future careers in politics!
2. AI in schools
AI may be rife among students, but how often are teachers using it?
Overall, the split seems to be: a lot or, not at all! (A very similar finding to England)
Over half of teachers (54%) reported using AI for school work in the last week, while smaller numbers used it in the last month (7%), the last three months (4%), or the last year (4%). Meanwhile, nearly a third (31%) have never used AI for school work.
Some AI technology is still in its early stages and has some bugs to work through — but what do teachers think AI could help them with in the future?
Creating lesson content tops the list, with 60% of teachers choosing it as a potential AI task, followed closely by lesson planning at 57%. Interestingly, fewer teachers see AI as helpful for marking (14%) or analyzing behavior data (17%), perhaps feeling that these areas still require a human touch.
3. Who would say NO WAY to a charter school?
When choosing a school to work in, teachers consider various factors like commuting time, subjects offered, and professional development. But does the school being a charter school matter, too?
Our data shows that 29% of teachers strongly agree that they would never work in a charter school. However, 21% strongly disagreed with this sentiment, and 22% feel neutral.
Next, we’ll be exploring opinions about working in district schools! As our teacher community grows, we’ll also be able to dive deeper, comparing responses based on school types and even seeing if opinions differ by state.
âž•Bonus Finding: What we don’t know
Most Teacher Tapp findings reveal what we do know, but sometimes, the unknowns are just as intriguing.
This week, we asked teachers: if a school calls an ambulance for a child, who covers the cost?
Surprisingly, 87% didn’t know! In 4% of schools, the school would pay, while 9% would pass the cost to the family.
Perhaps only school administrators can answer this type of question. As the app grows, we’ll be able to direct questions like these specifically to admins, allowing us to see how schools vary in their approaches.
Daily Reads
We know lots of teachers on Teacher Tapp LOVE the daily reads, if you have ideas of reads we could feature, get in touch by emailing usa@teachertapp.com and we will check it out!
This week our most-read blog was a seasonal special on banning Halloween in NJ.
