Teacher influence over school policies: Percentage of K–12 school teachers who reported that they have any influence over various policies at their school, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2020–21

School type and selected school characteristic	Setting performance standards for students at their school	Establishing curriculum	Determining the content of in-service professional development programs	Evaluating teachers	Hiring new full-time teachers	Setting discipline policy	Deciding how the school budget will be spent
All teachers	82.7	86.1	81.2	52.0	62.6	72.2	52.9

All public school teachers	81.5	84.9	80.8	50.5	62.7	71.0	53.6

School classification
Traditional public	81.3	84.7	80.9	49.9	62.7	70.7	53.7
Charter school	83.5	87.4	80.0	59.7	61.8	74.5	52.0

Community type
City	79.3	81.6	80.7	49.5	62.3	70.8	56.1
Suburban	80.4	83.7	80.5	48.3	61.8	69.6	52.2
Town	85.2	90.5	81.3	52.9	64.0	72.2	52.2
Rural	84.0	88.1	81.4	54.4	64.0	73.0	53.4

School level¹
Elementary	79.5	80.4	80.4	48.9	64.1	74.0	54.7
Middle	81.6	85.9	80.5	49.4	61.1	70.0	52.3
Secondary/high	83.6	90.1	81.3	52.7	60.8	66.0	53.1
Combined/other	85.0	90.3	82.3	55.2	64.9	73.3	51.2

Student enrollment
Less than 100	83.1	82.8	82.9	60.1	59.4	76.8	56.2
100–199	87.8	90.3	83.3	56.0	64.0	80.3	54.8
200–499	82.0	84.1	80.7	50.7	64.8	73.7	54.0
500–749	80.8	83.3	80.6	49.2	64.5	72.6	54.9
750–999	80.9	84.0	80.3	49.8	60.8	69.4	53.9
1,000 or more	80.5	87.5	81.0	50.0	58.8	64.4	50.9

Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches
0–34	83.3	88.0	82.8	51.2	67.2	71.3	53.6
35–49	83.3	87.0	81.1	50.6	64.3	71.3	52.8
50–74	80.9	85.4	80.5	50.5	61.2	70.0	52.7
75 or more	79.3	80.7	79.1	49.9	58.7	71.1	54.4

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction²
Only teaching with distance-learning instruction	81.5	85.2	82.3	50.3	61.9	72.5	57.2
Teaching with a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	81.1	84.9	80.8	50.6	62.5	69.9	53.2
Teaching only in-person instruction or no effect on delivery of instruction	82.3	84.7	79.7	50.5	63.8	72.4	51.3

All private school teachers	93.1	95.6	84.0	63.5	61.8	82.1	47.8

School classification
Catholic	91.0	94.0	82.1	57.4	54.2	81.7	43.5
Other religious	94.5	96.1	84.7	63.3	61.4	83.5	48.7
Nonsectarian	93.4	96.8	85.3	70.6	70.5	80.6	51.2

Community type
City	94.1	96.0	84.3	64.1	63.6	81.0	47.1
Suburban	92.1	94.8	82.9	62.2	60.5	81.5	46.3
Town	91.2	97.6	83.6	58.9	55.9	83.2	43.7
Rural	93.6	96.0	86.9	68.1	63.4	86.6	57.0

School level¹
Elementary/middle	92.0	96.8	88.8	68.4	67.4	86.2	53.2
Secondary/high	93.9	96.6	83.9	68.3	62.7	78.2	48.1
Combined/other	93.1	95.2	83.3	61.7	60.7	82.2	46.9

Student enrollment
Less than 100	93.7	94.7	86.8	68.2	61.3	87.0	55.7
100–199	89.5	94.3	83.0	61.9	55.1	84.2	45.5
200–499	94.3	96.0	83.7	60.7	61.1	81.6	43.5
500–749	95.7	97.4	83.6	65.4	68.2	78.9	48.5
750 or more	92.1	96.8	82.4	64.7	70.4	74.5	50.6

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction²
Only teaching with distance-learning instruction	93.6	95.6	88.5	71.4	65.6	81.3	48.3
Teaching with a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	93.2	95.8	84.1	63.8	63.0	80.6	47.7
Teaching only in-person instruction or no effect on delivery of instruction	92.8	95.5	83.3	62.0	59.7	84.0	47.9

¹Elementary schools offer at least one grade of K to 4, and the number of elementary grades is higher than the number of middle grades. Middle schools offer at least one of grades 5 to 8, and the number of middle grades is greater than the number of elementary or secondary grades. Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades 9 through 12 than in lower grades. Combined/other schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. School level categories in the 2020–21 NTPS differ from those in previous survey administrations; caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by level over time.

²Teachers were asked to report the current effect of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on their teaching at the school at the time they completed the survey. Thus, this was the reported effect on instruction at the time the survey was completed, not a summary of the school year.

NOTE: Data are weighted estimates of the population. Response options included “no influence,” “minor influence,” “moderate influence,” and “a great deal of influence.” Teachers who reported “minor influence,” “moderate influence,” or “a great deal of influence” were considered to have reported having “any influence.”

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher and Private School Teacher Data Files,” 2020–21.