In a recent report by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, Gen Z students have praised their schools more highly than in years past, with 71% giving their schools an A or B grade. This report, released on June 18, comes at a time when concerns about American education are prevalent, notably highlighted by a January 2025 study from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which showed declines in reading and math proficiency for fourth and eighth graders across multiple states. Despite these academic setbacks, educators have struggled to recover from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 2024 report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education noting that students remain significantly behind in terms of achieving full academic recovery.
The findings from the Gallup report indicate a rise in average school grades to a B on a 0-to-4 GPA scale, an improvement from B- the previous year. The percentage of students awarding their schools an A rose from 22% to 31%. Parental evaluations also saw an uptick, with 40% of parents giving their child’s school an A, compared to 33% in 2023. Reports indicated that Black and Hispanic students showed considerable gains in satisfaction, which Gallup’s senior education researcher Zach Hrynowski attributed to broader systemic improvements amongst student demographics traditionally reporting lower satisfaction levels.
This newfound positivity raises questions about its origins. While no single cause can be pinned down, Hrynowski noted the most significant improvements pertained to career-connected learning and excitement regarding academic subjects. Post-pandemic recovery is a prevailing theory, yet Christopher Lubienski, an education policy professor at Indiana University, warned that the factors driving satisfaction may stem from issues such as sample bias, suggesting that students experiencing high levels of dissatisfaction, including homeschooled individuals, were not represented in the survey. Frederick M. Hess from the American Enterprise Institute expressed concern that increasing satisfaction doesn’t necessarily correlate with academic engagement, potentially stemming from social dynamics rather than educational effectiveness.
Hrynowski pointed out that despite increased satisfaction, there remains a cautious outlook regarding long-term academic outcomes. Although satisfaction might reflect an improved school climate and stronger relationships, it does not guarantee progress in critical educational metrics like access equality and teacher retention. Influencers and educators, such as Matt Eicheldinger, urged that while these perception shifts indicate a positive trend, they should not distract from pressing issues within the educational system that need address, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of educational health.
The reduction of critique about school effectiveness, amidst political challenges, suggests that public perception has not deteriorated despite setbacks, as indicated by Lubienski’s observation. As Hrynowski mentioned, current improvements in the school experience may not immediately manifest in academic scores due to the lingering effects of learning loss from the pandemic. This underscores the importance of patience in assessing educational recovery, as gains may take time to reflect in standardized testing outcomes.
As America’s education system faces significant changes—most notably with President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education—there is cautious optimism surrounding these survey results. However, experts like Lubienski and Eicheldinger emphasize the necessity of well-resourced schools, effective teaching staff, and substantial curricular development to translate satisfaction into sustained academic success. Eicheldinger concludes that the path toward meaningful improvements requires not just a positive school experience but also organizational reforms that underpin those experiences, ensuring that they foster both joy and structured learning capable of significant long-term impact.
