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As we enter the second half of the 2025-2026 school year, TPT surveyed nearly 11,500 classroom teachers, administrators, and support staff in the US (82%) and around the world to uncover the truth about what it’s like to be a teacher today. These findings reveal their views on leading issues in education, including work pressures and the use of productive AI.
Important takeaways
- About two-thirds of teachers describe their level of job stress as high or severe.
- The majority (80%) of teachers report using AI tools in their classrooms.
- Almost half (48%) use AI to create services, followed by integrating ideas (20%) and completing administrative tasks (17%).
- Two-thirds of teachers believe that AI is just the beginning (40%) or that human-made resources are superior (27%). Only 7% believe that AI alone can meet their needs and replace what they were doing or buying.
The stress on teachers is reaching a critical level
Teachers are under a lot of pressure, so it’s no surprise that the demands of the job take a toll on their mental health. The majority (60%) of teachers describe their current level of job stress as high (50%) or critical (10%) suggesting high levels of potential burnout (read more about tips to reduce burnout).
This is particularly acute for first grade (1st-5th) teachers, who report higher stress levels than their peers. This may be due to some of the unique needs these teachers face, especially in relation to managing behavior and teaching a variety of basic learning skills.
Meanwhile, administrators and support staff are more divided about their stress levels: 47% describe their stress as manageable, while 45% say it is high.
Teachers see AI as a tool, not a substitute for teacher insight and creativity
As teachers’ stress levels continue to rise, they are turning to other resources and tools – such as AI – to support them and save time. As one elementary teacher commented: “My new school is incredibly under-resourced without a clear curriculum, but the expectations are incredibly high. And I’m teaching a new subject. I’ve never used AI before, but the need is so severe that I had to turn to it to continue planning lessons. . . . I prefer human work, but it’s impossible to live without some help.”
At a high level, AI has become increasingly embedded in the day-to-day work of teachers. Most teachers use AI regularly (23%) or occasionally (35%), while almost a quarter have tried it once or twice (22%). For teachers who describe their stress levels as high, they are more likely to report using AI in the classroom.
The ways in which teachers use AI reveal a lot about their motivations for using it. Almost half (44%) use AI to create services, followed by brainstorming ideas (20%). However, the biggest reason teachers are turning to AI is differentiation. Undoubtedly, the majority of respondents cited change services as the biggest pain point that AI helps them solve.
Although many teachers use AI in their classrooms, they remain open-minded about the limitations and benefits of AI – and continue to represent the knowledge and experience of real teachers. Just 7% of teachers believe that AI alone can meet their needs and replace what they used to do or buy, while the majority of teachers view AI as a beginning (40%) or believe that human-made services are superior (27%). As one teacher commented, “AI is an amazing tool to help create a lesson, but it shouldn’t be relied upon to teach it. My students can tell the difference and that’s why I choose to use it sparingly.”
The message is unmistakable: While AI can help make the work of teachers easier, they don’t believe it can replace the knowledge or wisdom of teachers.
TPT Survey Methodology
TPT sent out a 21-question survey of selective and open-ended questions to active and curious users of the TPT platform to gather teachers’ opinions on how the 2025-26 school year was going. The survey was sent by email on January 22, 2026, and was completed by 11,350 teachers. The margin of error is +/-3 percentage points. The characteristics of the respondents are shown below.
| The district | |
| In the west | 20% |
| Midwest | 18% |
| In the northeast | 16% |
| The South | 28% |
| International | 18% |
| Students Grades (Respondents selected all that apply, percentages may not add to 100%) |
|
| PreK-K | 27% |
| 1-5 | 47% |
| 6-8 | 29% |
| 9-12 | 25% |
| Older Students | 4% |
| Other | 4% |
| Role | |
| Class Teacher | 81% |
| Administrator and Support Staff | 19% |
Extraordinary resources for everyday teaching
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