When you ask an educator why they went into teaching, few would say for the love of data collection and integration. Their mission is to shape minds, not to crunch numbers but they’ve been pushed into the roles of analysts, accountants and actuaries in response to the education field’s evolution into a data-driven culture.
Instead of dedicating their time and passion to the art of teaching, educators are now buried under a mountain of administrative tasks. One survey found that teachers’ workloads have increased to 57 hours a week, but less than half of those hours are spent teaching. Analyzing and inputting tedious data, compliance checklists and general paperwork are stealing the precious time teachers need to inspire, engage and connect with students.
Every minute of wasted time is a lost opportunity for learning, leading to negative academic performance and widening the knowledge gap.
It’s a crisis in our schools—one that drains educators’ energy and shifts their focus away from the art of teaching. While these tasks are crucial, teachers are rapidly burning out from carrying too many responsibilities. If we want a future where students thrive, we need to find time-saving strategies that free up teachers to do what they do best—teach.
Here are four strategies our Durango, Colorado school district has used to lighten the load for our teachers, maximizing our effective instructional time and empowering them to lead students to better outcomes:
1. Integrating software platforms
Before our district invested in a software platform that supported the seamless integration of our digital programs, our plans and tools were housed in approximately seven different locations. Our staff wasted hundreds of hours learning how to navigate these platforms, then more time every day hunting down information across several systems.
By consolidating our digital resources into a single, centralized platform that integrates our other programs, we also greatly reduced the time needed to manage this data, as well as the professional learning time required to master several different systems.
A centralized data platform enables teachers, administrators, parents and case managers to quickly access information in a variety of ways, allowing them to provide more effective real-time support.
2. Automating administrative tasks
Recent studies show that only 46% of teachers’ time is spent on teaching and 31% of teachers wish they could spend less time on administrative work. With classroom educators using an average of 148 edtech tools in their classrooms, now, more than ever, our teachers are bogged down by added administrative tasks that take them away from valuable teaching and planning time.
Automating administrative tasks such as attendance, tracking student performance and behavior, sending reminders, scheduling meetings, and other communication and classroom management resources streamlines teachers’ workloads, reducing the time spent on manual work. It helps teachers focus on their primary role—educating students—while enhancing productivity and reducing their stressful workload.
3. Enhancing professional development
Professional development is a significant investment—of teachers’ time and school districts’ money. A recent study found districts spend an average of $18,000 per teacher, per year on professional development-related efforts, and teachers dedicate about 68 hours a year to PD.
Without a meaningful focus, PD only adds to teachers’ workloads and time away from the classroom. By offering professional development opportunities that provide training on new technology or classroom management tools, such as grading software, communication apps or lesson planning platforms, we’ve equipped classroom teachers with time-saving efficiencies.
Also, PD tailored to the specific challenges teachers face—such as assessment strategies or instructional design—has provided solutions that directly save time in day-to-day teaching activities.
4. Data-driven decision making
In the classroom, every second counts and data-driven decision-making has become a game-changer for our school district. By simplifying data integration for our educators and leveraging technology that provides real-time analytics, Durango has been able to streamline processes, offer the right support at the right time and efficiently allocate resources.
Instead of relying on guesswork, tapping into student data gives educators the tools to gain valuable insights into student performance, learning gaps and effective teaching strategies. This allows teachers to tailor their instruction and offer personalized learning plans, and also reduces the hours spent on unnecessary paperwork. It also alerts teachers to students who may be struggling under the radar, giving them the tools to deliver effective interventions, saving both time and money down the road.
Data-driven decisions allow us to focus on what truly matters—improving student outcomes—while reclaiming valuable time for teachers and administrators to focus on meaningful, impactful work.
Creating efficiencies within our school districts is not just about streamlining operations—it’s about giving teachers the time and space to focus on what truly matters: educating students. By leveraging technology to make data-driven decisions, integrating software platforms, reducing administrative burdens, and offering relevant opportunities for professional development, we can enable teachers to spend more time on teaching and student engagement.
Investing in these efficiencies is an investment in better outcomes for our students, stronger classrooms, and a more sustainable future for education.
