Gallup-Walton Survey Finds 96% of Teachers Report Classroom Device Use, but Most Want Less Screen Time
A Walton Family Foundation-Gallup survey of 2,101 teachers finds 96% report classroom device use, while 61% want students spending less time on them.
Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels
Ninety-six percent of U.S. K-12 public school teachers say their students use learning devices such as laptops, Chromebooks, tablets or e-readers in class, according to a Walton Family Foundation and Gallup survey published September 16, 2026. Yet 61% of teachers say students should spend less time on those devices, versus 6% who want more time and 33% who want the same amount, marking one of the largest classroom learning devices surveys of the school year so far.
The findings come from the Walton Family Foundation-Gallup “Teaching for Tomorrow” study, conducted in partnership with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Gallup surveyed 2,101 U.S. K-12 public school teachers online between May 6 and May 29, 2026, recruiting respondents from the RAND American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative, probability-based panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The report is titled “Screen Wise: What Teachers Say About Making Classroom Technology Work.”
Teachers divided on whether devices help or hurt
Teachers’ views on device effectiveness are mixed. Fifty-nine percent agree or strongly agree that the digital tools or apps they use with students help them learn more effectively, but only 10% strongly agree; the other 40% are neutral or disagree. On the question of harm versus benefit, 29% of teachers say learning devices do more harm than good, 18% say devices do more good than harm, and 52% say the effects are roughly equal.
High school teachers report the most skepticism: 34% say devices do more harm than good, compared with 27% of elementary teachers and 28% of middle school teachers. K-12 Dive, reporting on the same data on September 21, 2026, said a quarter of elementary school teachers report their students using digital devices in all or most class periods for main lessons, and that about 46% of elementary teachers see devices as a distraction to some extent.
Appetite for reduced screen time varies by grade level, with middle and high school teachers more likely than elementary teachers to want less device use.
| Grade level taught | Want less device time | Want about the same | Want more device time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 61% | 33% | 6% |
| Elementary school | 55% | 39% | 7% |
| Middle school | 67% | 28% | 5% |
| High school | 65% | 30% | 6% |
Source: Walton Family Foundation-Gallup “Screen Wise” report, September 16, 2026.
Oversight tracks with more positive views
Only 42% of teachers report having “a lot” of oversight over what students do on learning devices during instruction; 44% report “some” oversight and 14% report “not much” or none. Oversight is highest among elementary teachers (51% report a lot) and lowest among high school teachers (28%), reflecting the shift toward more independent device use as students get older.
Teachers who report greater oversight consistently rate devices more positively. Among teachers with a lot of oversight, 67% agree or strongly agree that digital tools help students learn more effectively, compared with 55% of teachers with some oversight and 49% of those with little or no oversight.
Teachers back stronger monitoring over blanket time limits
When asked about six possible approaches to manage classroom technology, teachers were most likely to strongly support more investment in high-quality print-based or hands-on materials (58% strongly support) and stronger filtering or monitoring requirements for student devices (54% strongly support). Fewer teachers, 34%, strongly support setting a daily maximum time limit for device use, and more than a quarter somewhat or strongly oppose that approach.
Teachers also see devices as important for differentiating instruction for specific student groups: 77% say devices are very or somewhat important for English learners, 76% for students with an Individualized Education Program or 504 plan, 72% for students needing enrichment, and 71% for students needing extra academic support.
Gallup’s report concludes that “the bigger opportunity lies in improved device implementation and management” rather than blanket restrictions, noting that teachers with stronger device oversight consistently report more positive experiences.
The survey lands as a growing number of districts weigh restrictions on classroom technology. Winss Solutions has covered how New York City is set to ban student-facing AI from 2-K through eighth grade and how the US Department of Education tells schools to judge ed tech by learning, not screen time rather than by minutes on a screen. The new Gallup-Walton data adds a national, teacher-reported view of how devices are actually used day to day, complementing earlier findings in Screens in schools: what the test-score data show after a Senate warning earlier this year.
Background
The Walton Family Foundation, a private philanthropy founded by the family behind Walmart, funds K-12 and higher-education initiatives across the United States, including research partnerships with Gallup on teacher experience and classroom technology. Gallup, founded in 1935 and based in Washington, D.C., is a longstanding public-opinion research and analytics firm that has surveyed U.S. teachers on AI use, financial stress and workplace conditions in prior reports this year. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the research and innovation arm of Sesame Workshop, focuses on how media and technology affect children’s learning and development. The three organizations’ “Teaching for Tomorrow” series has tracked teacher sentiment on classroom technology as districts nationwide reassess screen-time and AI policies for the 2026-27 school year, with the September 16, 2026 “Screen Wise” report offering the most detailed national breakdown yet of how oversight shapes teachers’ views of the devices already in their classrooms.
Sources: Gallup; Walton Family Foundation-Gallup K-12 Teacher Research; K-12 Dive
Featured image: photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
