As Republican legislators have passed laws banning the teaching of 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� in schools, and teachers have argued that the left-wing 鈥渋ndoctrination鈥� this legislation targets doesn鈥檛 actually exist, researchers are trying to bring clarity鈥攂y attempting to map the ideological spectrum of K-12 classrooms and understand exactly how race, gender, and other hot-button issues are actually discussed.
Reviews of course materials and surveys of teachers have found little evidence of widespread left-leaning bias. Now, a new study of high school students confirms that most schools aren鈥檛 presenting a one-sided picture of American politics and history. But it also finds that kids say teachers aren鈥檛 shying away from discussing controversial topics in class.
The research, , analyzes the results of a nationally representative May 2024 survey of 850 U.S. high school students.
The findings show that politics regularly make their way into the classroom. More than half of students say their teachers have used the phrases 鈥淏lack lives matter,鈥� 鈥渁ll lives matter,鈥� 鈥渁nti-racist,鈥� and 鈥渨hite privilege,鈥� for example.
Some students say that the kinds of ideas anti-critical-race-theory advocates disparage are present in their classrooms. Thirty-six percent report that their teachers have often made the 鈥渃laim or argument鈥� that 鈥淎merica is a fundamentally racist nation.鈥�
Still, more than half of all students, 56 percent, say that their teachers often claim or argue that 鈥渢he U.S. has made a lot of progress toward racial equality over the last 50 years.鈥�
And regardless of their teachers鈥� opinions, most students say they feel that open debate is welcome in their classrooms. More than three-quarters of survey respondents say their teachers never or rarely make them feel uncomfortable sharing opinions that differ from their teachers鈥�.
The results paint a nuanced portrait of American classrooms and doesn鈥檛 suggest 鈥渁ny systemic or obvious one-sidedness鈥� to classroom conversations, said Gary Ritter, the dean of Saint Louis University鈥檚 School of Education, and one of the authors of the report.
69传媒 are just as likely, for example, to say that their teachers have made disparaging remarks about Democrats as Republicans.
And while it鈥檚 possible that some observers could take the findings as evidence that teachers place too much emphasis on America鈥檚 faults and divisions, others might take the opposite view, he said.
69传媒 say teachers mention controversial issues
The 鈥渁nti-CRT鈥� movement started in 2020, not long after a white police officer in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, a Black man, spawning weeks of protests and unrest. In response to a raft of workplace and school efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, Republican state legislators began to introduce measures aimed at curtailing discussions of race and gender in U.S. schools.
Lawmakers said they were trying to prevent schools from teaching kids to hate their country or feel bad about their racial background. They labeled these ideas 鈥渃ritical race theory,鈥� a term originally coined in legal studies to describe how systemic racism operates in law.
Many teachers countered that schools didn鈥檛 teach the ideas outlined in these bills, and that the proposed legislation was actually a thinly veiled attempt to shut down inclusion of diverse perspectives and any conversation about how race and gender operate in American society.
Because 鈥済ood-faith鈥� anti-CRT advocates worry that this instruction is affecting students, 鈥渨e wanted to ask the students,鈥� said Ritter.
The authors鈥攚ho included an ideologically 鈥渉eterodox鈥� group of researchers in education and political science, Ritter said鈥攃hose a selection of phrases and claims that advocates and popular media have associated with 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� in the context of K-12 schools.
Researchers used the words that the 鈥渉arshest critics鈥� used in their claims, said Brian Kisida, an associate professor at the University of Missouri鈥檚 Truman School of Government and Public Affairs, and the lead author on the paper. For example, students were asked whether their teachers had claimed that 鈥渃apitalism inherently favors white Americans and discriminates against Black Americans,鈥� or that 鈥渨hite people should feel guilty about their privileges.鈥�
Some of the findings are ambiguous, not shedding much light on how certain topics are discussed. For instance, 64 percent of students said teachers have used the phrase 鈥淏lack lives matter鈥� in class.
But simply mentioning a phrase in class 鈥渃an mean 100 different things,鈥� said one social studies teacher in Virginia, who asked that her name be withheld to maintain her position of political impartiality in her classroom and school community.
鈥淭eachers might talk about this in the context of a current political and cultural climate,鈥� she said, without asking students to embrace the slogan and its meaning.
Even when students say their teachers have made the claim that 鈥淎merica is a fundamentally racist nation,鈥� it might not always mean that teachers are telling students to believe that, said Ritter.
A thoughtful civics teacher might have structured a lesson asking students to investigate that claim, he said. (This isn鈥檛 so far off from prompts included in national guidelines for social studies鈥攆or instance, the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy, a framework developed by a panel of academics, educators, and civic nonprofits, asks high school students to explore the relationship between race and American social structure.)
Still, said Kisida, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 doubt that some of these things are happening in ways that parents and the public don鈥檛 approve of.鈥�
Teachers have limited influence on students鈥� political beliefs
Other research has shown most Americans across the political spectrum say that high schools should teach about some controversial issues, including racial inequality, gun control, and abortion.
Still, they differ on the details. Republicans, for example, are less likely than Democrats to say that they support lessons that investigate current, instead of past, racial inequalities, according to a 2024 .
Nationally, efforts to stymie discussions of these issues may gain renewed momentum during President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term. Throughout his campaign, Trump .
In addition to finding no strong, one-sided bent to classroom conversations, the study underscores that what students learn in school may not have that big of an effect on their future political leanings.
When asked how influential different sources were to their political beliefs, students in the survey put teachers low on the list, with only 17 percent saying educators were 鈥渧ery influential鈥濃�攁bove only podcasts, print media, and radio.
Much more important, students reported, were their parents and family, as well as social media.
