PHILADELPHIA, PA — More than seven in 10 American families surveyed would advocate for teaching decision-making skills in schools, according to a new national report from the Philadelphia-based Alliance for Decision Education, adding evidence of support for incorporating judgment, reasoning and decision-making into existing academic instruction.
The State of Decision Education 2026 found that 74% of surveyed families and 66% of education leaders would advocate for Decision Education in their schools today.
Support for teaching the skills was even higher, with 77% of families and 68% of education leaders strongly agreeing that children should learn how to make decisions.
MMS Education conducted the national surveys on behalf of the Alliance using a YouGov panel.
The findings suggest that families and education administrators broadly favor instruction designed to help students evaluate information, assess alternatives and make decisions under uncertainty.
The report also examined whether existing academic standards provide opportunities to incorporate those skills without establishing entirely separate courses.
An analysis of academic standards across all 50 states and additional jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, identified substantial alignment between Decision Education concepts and subjects already taught in schools.
More than 90% of the states and jurisdictions examined demonstrated high alignment with Decision Education in science standards.
Nearly 90% showed strong or high alignment in mathematics, while nearly 66% demonstrated high alignment in English language arts.
The results indicate that decision-making concepts could be incorporated into established academic subjects, particularly science and mathematics, where evaluating evidence, interpreting information and applying reasoning are already central instructional components.
The Alliance defines Decision Education as instruction that develops students’ ability to evaluate information, consider alternatives and make informed choices.
Annie Duke, co-founder of the Alliance for Decision Education, linked the need for those skills to the increasing complexity of decisions students face and the growing influence of artificial intelligence.
“We ask young people to make increasingly complex decisions, often without ever explicitly teaching them how to evaluate information, weigh their options, or think through uncertainty,” Duke stated.
“Generative AI is putting even more weight on our judgment. I can’t think of anything more important to teach students right now.”
The report identifies Tennessee as an example of how decision-making instruction can be incorporated into a statewide academic framework.
The state’s Mathematical Reasoning for Decision Making course includes decision-making concepts within mathematics instruction.
A recent Alliance pilot involving selected teachers of the Tennessee course connected mathematical reasoning and decision-making instruction with career-related learning.
The initiative illustrates one approach to integrating decision-making skills into existing coursework rather than treating them exclusively as a separate educational subject.
David Samuelson, executive director of the Alliance for Decision Education, described the survey findings as an indication that both families and education leaders support expanding instruction in decision-making.
“With the pace of change affecting all of us faster than ever before, we can’t afford to wait to teach decision skills to all students,” Samuelson stated.
The organization intends to use the report to track progress toward broader adoption of Decision Education.
The findings provide a national assessment of attitudes toward decision-making instruction and identify potential pathways for integrating those skills into state academic standards.
The Alliance for Decision Education is based in Philadelphia and advocates for teaching decision-making skills to students as part of their formal education.
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