Student Experience

How students experience school and its impact on attendance, motivation and academic success

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Commentary

An Important Piece of the Student Motivation Puzzle

Authored byChris S. Hulleman, Teresa Hulleman

Motivation as an important predictor of student achievement

From the Field

How School Suspensions Affect Student Achievement

Research into the negative effects of suspensions on academic success

Commentary

Mental Health in High School: The Teacher’s Perspective

Authored byMichael Goldstein

The challenges that teachers face in dealing with student mental health

Commentary

To Help Kids Catch up Academically, Let’s Focus on Friendships

Authored byAndrew Buher

How strong relationships fuel social-emotional development and wellness

Report

CORE Lessons: Measuring the Social and Emotional Sides of Student Success

Authored byThomas Toch, Raegen Miller

California’s CORE school districts’ use of student, teacher and parent surveys of school climate to drive school improvement

Commentary

School-Based Health Care is Key to Helping Student Succeed

Authored byMario Ramirez, Andrew Buher

The case for expanding school-based health care

Disengagement

71%

Parents who think their children love school
41%

Students who report that they love school

Source: Brookings

School Meals

$3

Average middle school lunch price
$5,495

Median unpaid meal debt, November 2023

Source: School Nutrition Association

Youth Homelessness

1.2 million

Pre-K through 12th grade students experiencing homelessness
15%

Increase in the number of unaccompanied youth in shelters from 2022 to 2023

Source: SchoolHouse Connection

Wraparound Services

60%

Public schools that use a "community school" or "wraparound services" model, 2023-24 school year
45%

Public schools that use a "community school" or "wraparound services" model, 2022-23 school year

Source: School Pulse Panel

Student Teacher Ratios

15:1

Average public school student-teacher ratio in the U.S. for the 2023-24 school year
23:1

Student-teacher ratio in Utah, the highest in the U.S.

Source: Public School Review

School Meals

$170.13

Average yearly school meal debt per child in the U.S.
1.54 million

Students across the country whose families must pay for full-priced school meals they cannot afford

Source: Center for American Progress

School Psychologists

1,127

Average students per school psychologist
500

Recommended students per school psychologist

Source: National Association of School Psychologists

Girls’ Mental Health

57%

Teen girls who reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021
36%

Teen girls who reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2011

Source: CDC

Student-Counselor Ratio

408

Average number of students per counselor in schools, 2021-22
250

Recommended number of students per counselor in schools

Source: Chalkbeat

Student Mental Health

28%

High school students who felt connected to others at school experiencing poor mental health
45%

High school students who did not feel connected experiencing poor mental health

Source: April 2022 CDC report

School Mental Health Professionals

8%

Districts with the recommended ratio of school psychologists to students, 2020-21
14%

Districts with the recommended ratio of counselors to students

Source: Education Week analysis

COVID-19 Mental Health Impacts

87%

Public schools that agree that the pandemic negatively impacted students' socioemotional development
70%

Public schools that report an increase in students seeking mental health services

Source: Institute of Education Sciences 2022 School Pulse Panel