It feels like education has changed a great deal in the past few years. Yet I recently came across a 2018 article from NEA and was struck by what hasn’t changed: we’re still facing the same issues in education today.
Let’s take a look at the top challenges schools face today, both the long-standing ones and recent developments. Then we’ll explore 3 ways we can create change and improve outcomes.
Here are the top 5 issues in public education identified by NEA in 2018 and how these challenges impact education today, plus 2 critical problems in schools that have taken hold more recently.
This is not news to anybody. But the shortage of funds for public schools (and the threat of more cuts to come) has become an emergency for many districts. Here’s why:
In 2018, there were 119 incidents of gun violence in U.S. schools. That number jumped to 331 in 2024. When they feel unsafe, students have trouble learning and teachers can’t teach effectively.
Shootings are not the only safety issue schools are dealing with: violent outbursts in the classroom are putting students and teachers at risk of physical and emotional harm.
It’s no secret that student mental health has declined over the past decade or so, with steep rises in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation following the pandemic. Mental health struggles make it much harder for students to learn.
The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared adolescent mental health as “the defining public health crisis of our time.” According to the World Health Organization, one in seven adolescents and teens currently struggles with a mental health disorder, and suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people.
If you work in education, I don’t need to tell you about the explosion of student behavior problems driven by emotional dysregulation.
While this issue has been building for some time, ERI wasn’t even on the radar for most educators in 2018. Today it’s the hot-button issue that’s driving teachers away from the profession and preventing students from accessing their education.
Students can’t learn if they don’t come to school. The rise in school refusal and absenteeism began before the pandemic, but has ramped up since the period of remote learning. It’s a time consuming and complex problem, and many schools aren’t equipped to provide the support necessary to get students back on track.
In addition to these long-standing issues, since 2020 schools have had new challenges to manage.
Teaching children has never been easy. But it’s becoming exponentially harder. Budget cuts mean teachers have bigger classes, more responsibilities, work longer hours, and have to do more with less. They are at ground zero for dealing with students’ behavioral and mental health issues, and they have little (if any) training on how to manage these problems.
In the past, school staff were rewarded with respect from peers, administrators, parents, and students. The lack of respect for educators today is one of the most damaging challenges we face, because it’s driving teachers away from the profession.
Schools are under tremendous pressure to make up for the lost learning resulting from the pandemic. I hear educators talking about going back to traditional tactics that have “always worked.”
The problem is, due to all of the issues mentioned here, things are fundamentally different now and the old ways are no longer effective. We need to think differently about solutions.
Have you noticed that ALL of these critical issues in education are related to mental health?
Without spending a fortune, we CAN implement a variety of supports that help students succeed, improve school climate and culture, and better support school staff. Instead of spending on the latest curriculum fad, consider investing in your organization by addressing their foundational needs:
Learn more: How to Protect Your School Budget
Teachers need these things to improve student outcomes (and stay motivated and invested in their jobs):
A growth mindset must be a key element of every school district’s climate and culture. “Growth mindset” is a term we see in many contexts, but how can it help us drive change in education?
Just because a student has not developed a particular skill does not mean they never will. They just haven’t done so YET. Establishing a growth mindset means deliberately adopting an optimistic attitude about where students are (academically, emotionally, and behaviorially) and what they can achieve.
Our attitude and expectations deeply affect what students believe they can achieve, their resilience, and ultimately their school success.