Press Release:

New Report Reveals Shift in K-12 Education Landscape with Digital Materials and OER Adoption on the Rise

Report presents results from a 2025 national survey of K-12 teachers on digital use and perceptions.

OAKLAND, Calif. – The sixth annual survey of teachers and administrators from Bay View Analytics reveals significant shifts in the K-12 education landscape, highlighting growing awareness and adoption of digital materials and open educational resources (OER).

According to the report, while instruction remains overwhelmingly in-person, print and digital classroom materials are increasingly integrated into classrooms. This trend is reflected in the findings that 81% of K-12 teachers require a textbook for their primary instructional course, with 20% exclusively providing print textbooks and 20% exclusively providing digital textbooks. The survey also reveals that teacher satisfaction with classroom materials remains mixed, with no significant difference based on format used.

According to Dr. Julia Seaman, Research Director at Bay View Analytics, “It is great to see the use and opinions directly from the teachers themselves. Taking all the results together, it is clear that while instructional materials receive passing marks overall, there is room for improvement”

With 36% of teachers now aware of OER, a small increase from previous years, there is a growing recognition of the potential benefits of these resources. Grade level plays a significant role in OER awareness, with Pre-K to 3 teachers being the least likely to be aware. Notably, just under half of teachers at grades 9-12 are aware of OER.

"OER materials are a digital material that has shown consistent growth in K-12 for both awareness and adoption. Teachers enjoy the flexibility of the open license to customize it for their class content and student needs," continued Dr. Seaman.

The report is based on data collected from 1,137 teachers across the United States. The survey was conducted in April 2025. The complete report, which includes detailed data and analysis, can be downloaded from the Bay View Analytics website at www.bayviewanalytics.com/K12OER.

To learn more about the findings of this year's report and to explore innovative solutions for K-12 education, join us for our upcoming webinar:
"The Increasingly Digital K-12 Classrooms"
Date: October 15, 2025
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (ET)
Registration Link: https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/webinar/k12-classrooms/

These results are part of an annual survey of educators conducted by Bay View Analytics, tracking course material adoption decisions in the U.S. The project is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Online Learning Consortium. The complete report has been released under a Creative Commons license and is available for download at www.bayviewanalytics.com/K12OER. The entire series of reports for this project and for reports on higher education are available on the OER section of the Bay View Analytics webpage: www.bayviewanalytics.com/oer.

About Bay View Analytics

Bay View Analytics is a statistical research firm focusing on survey design, implementation and analysis. The scope of Bay View Analytics' consulting engagements includes scientific statistical analyses, clinical trial statistics and survey designs for a range of topics, with a particular focus on online education. Bay View Analytics has been conducting research and publishing reports on the state of online education in U.S. higher education for twenty years. Visit www.bayviewanalytics.com for more information or contact us at www.bayviewanalytics.com/contact.