Teacher autonomy: Percentage of K–12 school teachers who responded that they have any control over various areas of planning and teaching in their classrooms, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2020–21

School type and selected school characteristic	Selecting textbooks and other instructional materials	Selecting content, topics, and skills to be taught	Selecting teaching techniques	Evaluating and grading students	Disciplining students	Determining the amount of homework to be assigned
All teachers	85.3	87.3	97.9	98.2	96.3	96.8

All public school teachers	84.1	86.2	97.7	98.1	96.0	96.7

School classification
Traditional public	84.1	86.1	97.7	98.1	96.1	96.7
Charter school	84.7	88.4	97.5	97.5	95.5	95.7

Community type
City	80.3	84.2	96.9	97.4	94.9	96.3
Suburban	82.7	85.1	97.6	98.0	96.0	96.4
Town	89.7	88.7	98.5	98.6	96.9	97.0
Rural	88.4	89.3	98.5	98.6	97.0	97.5

School level¹
Elementary	80.1	81.3	97.1	97.5	97.1	95.9
Middle	84.8	87.0	97.8	98.0	95.1	97.3
Secondary/high	88.9	92.4	98.5	98.9	94.8	97.6
Combined/other	88.9	91.3	98.5	98.7	96.5	96.5

Student enrollment
Less than 100	84.2	85.6	98.0	99.0	96.7	87.9
100–199	89.4	90.6	98.8	98.9	98.2	98.2
200–499	83.5	84.8	97.6	97.9	97.1	96.4
500–749	83.1	84.8	97.4	98.0	96.5	97.1
750–999	83.5	85.4	97.6	97.4	95.4	96.7
1,000 or more	85.5	89.4	98.1	98.5	94.1	97.3

Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches
0–34	86.8	88.8	98.3	98.4	96.8	96.5
35–49	86.7	87.9	98.2	98.7	96.2	97.3
50–74	85.4	86.5	98.1	98.0	96.0	96.8
75 or more	79.6	82.9	96.7	97.5	95.3	96.4

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction²
Only teaching with distance-learning instruction	82.8	86.6	97.9	98.0	95.6	96.4
Teaching with a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	84.6	86.9	97.7	98.1	95.8	96.9
Teaching only in-person instruction or no effect on delivery of instruction	84.0	84.1	97.7	98.0	96.9	96.3

All private school teachers	95.1	96.5	99.4	99.1	98.3	98.1

School classification
Catholic	94.7	95.2	99.5	99.3	98.9	98.5
Other religious	94.7	96.3	99.3	99.2	98.3	98.5
Nonsectarian	96.2	98.2	99.5	98.8	97.8	97.0

Community type
City	95.1	96.5	99.5	99.0	98.4	97.8
Suburban	94.6	96.4	99.4	99.4	97.9	97.9
Town	96.2	96.0	99.0	99.0	98.8	97.9
Rural	96.3	96.9	99.5	98.8	99.2	99.3

School level¹
Elementary/middle	94.4	94.6	99.2	97.8	99.3	98.2
Secondary/high	97.2	98.4	99.4	99.4	97.5	98.9
Combined/other	94.8	96.4	99.5	99.3	98.4	97.9

Student enrollment
Less than 100	93.0	95.0	99.2	98.7	98.1	98.5
100–199	93.4	95.6	99.0	98.4	97.9	96.7
200–499	96.1	96.8	99.6	99.6	98.8	98.1
500–749	97.0	98.2	99.7	99.2	98.2	98.6
750 or more	97.1	98.0	99.7	99.6	98.2	99.1

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction²
Only teaching with distance-learning instruction	96.8	97.5	99.6	99.0	97.7	98.7
Teaching with a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	95.7	96.6	99.5	99.3	98.3	98.1
Teaching only in-person instruction or no effect on delivery of instruction	94.1	96.1	99.2	98.9	98.4	97.9

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 control,” “minor control,” “moderate control,” and “a great deal of control.” Teachers who reported “minor control,” “moderate control,” or “a great deal of control” were considered to have reported having “any control.”

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.