Taking the public's pulse on attitudes toward public schools

Overview

Title: 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools

Authors: Lowell C. Rose, Executive Director Emeritus, Phi Delta Kappa International, Alec M. Gallup, Co-Chairman, Gallup Organization

Publisher: Phi Delta Kappa

Funded by: Phil Delta Kappa Educational Foundation

Released: September 2006

Peer reviewed: No

Research methods: Public opinion pollThe question: To determine how the American public feels about the state of public education and the major issues that confront it.

The study: Conducted a telephone survey of 1,007 adults distributed within four geographic regions [East (23 percent), Midwest (23 percent), South (32 percent), and West (22 percent)] and three community sizes [urban (26 percent), suburban (46 percent), and rural (26 percent)]. The racial makeup of the sample was predominately white (83 percent) and 14 percent non-white.

The adults were asked a series of questions about their attitudes toward public education. Many of the same questions have been asked throughout the 38-year history of the survey so it is possible to track the trends of the public’s attitudes for most questions

Caveats: As with all public opinion polls the findings should be interpreted with caution. Slight changes to wording of questions could elicit very different responses. Respondents tend to say what they feel they should say instead of saying what they actually feel. And be aware that poll results by race and family income levels could provide very different results.

Link to full report: http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0609pol.htm

As they have for decades, the public strongly supports the public schools in their communities while they believe schools outside their communities need to improve. These are among the findings from the 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.

Respondents say that reform should take place within the confines of the existing public school system and are wary of alternative reform measures such as vouchers, privatization, and mayoral control. A majority also said that local school boards should have the most influence regarding what is taught in their schools.

The public strongly believes that the achievement gap between white students and their black and Hispanic counterparts needs to close and that public schools have the responsibility to do so even though they believe that the gap is attributable to factors outside the school doors.

Public support for the goal of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act — to close the achievement gap — does not extend to the methods NCLB uses to accomplish it. The majority of people believe that the emphasis on standardized tests in only math and English will lead teachers to “teach to the test” and for schools to decrease the time students spend in other classes such as art, history, and science. They also reject the idea that student pass rates on a single test should determine if a school is in need of improvement. Instead, they report that a better way to judge schools is to determine how much improvement students make from one year to the next.

However, 55 percent of those surveyed reported knowing little or nothing about NCLB. While a majority, this percentage has dropped since 2003, when 76 percent of respondents reported knowing little or nothing about NCLB.

The findings

The public is supportive of their local public schools

49 percent of the public give the schools in their community an A or B which is relatively unchanged from 1974 (48 percent)
In contrast, only 21 percent of the public give the nation’s schools an A or B
71 percent of the public want to fix the nation’s schools through reforming the existing public school system
- 60 percent oppose the use of publicly funded vouchers
- 69 percent oppose local school boards contracting with private corporations to run public schools in their communities
- 67 percent oppose their mayor taking over their public schools even if there were a large percentage of low-performing schools in the district.
58 percent believe local school boards should have the greatest influence over what is taught in schools
77 percent of the public believe the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students is mostly attributable to factors outside the schools

The public’s view of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is mixed:

55 percent of the public reports knowing very little or nothing about NCLB while 45 percent say they know a great deal or fair amount. These numbers are dramatically different from 2003 when 76 percent knew very little or nothing about NCLB and only 24 percent knew a great deal or fair amount.
Those who report knowing a great deal or fair amount about NCLB are split on how they rate the law.
- 42 percent view NCLB very or somewhat favorably
- 47 percent view NCLB very or somewhat unfavorably
The majority of the public opposes the methods employed by NCLB
- 69 percent do not think schools should be judged on a single test score
- 81 percent believe tests should be based on other subjects in addition to math and English
- 62 percent do not believe special education students should be included in determining of a school is in need of improvement
- 81 percent believe schools should be judged on how much improvement students made during the school year instead of just the percent who passed the end of year assessment
- 67 percent believe that the emphasis on standardized test will lead to teachers “teaching to the test” which the vast majority (75 percent) believes is a bad thing. Interestingly, Public Agenda’s Reality Check 2006 poll found that only 13 percent or parents believed standardized tests caused more harm then good.
The public believes in the goals of NCLB
- 88 percent believe it is important to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students
- 81 percent believe the gap can be closed while maintaining high standards
- 57 percent believe it is the responsibility of public schools to close the achievement gap
- 58 percent do not believe there is too much emphasis on testing

Additional findings

Many people are unclear what charter schools actually are o 53 percent believe they are not public schools even though they are
o 60 percent believe they can charge tuition even though they can not
o 58 percent believe they can select students based on ability even though they can not
Lack of funding is listed as the biggest problem facing public schools
66 percent would pay more in taxes to fund pre-school programs for low-income students which they believe will help close the achievement gap
56 percent favor the idea that all high school graduates complete a college-predatory curriculum even if they do not plan on attending college
63 percent favor students having to pass an exam to graduate from high school
73 percent believe public high school students do not work hard enough in school

48 percent favor increasing the time students are in school while 49 percent are opposed

The caveats

As with all public opinion polls the findings should be interpreted with caution. Slight changes to wording of questions could elicit very different responses. For example, the insertion of the word “‘voucher” when asking about if public funds should be provided to students to go to private schools provides a different response then if the word “voucher” is removed from the question.

In addition, respondents tend to say what they feel they should say instead of saying what they actually feel. For example, respondents may say in polls they would pay more taxes to fund education but do not vote accordingly

And be aware that poll results by race and family income levels could provide very different results. Public Agenda’s Reality Check 2006 poll showed differing views of public education between white parents and black and Hispanic parents

Conclusion

Although public opinion polls are not an exact science, the PDK/Gallup poll shows clearly that the public supports public education and the need to close the achievement gap. Other polls such as Public Agenda’s Reality Check provide similar results. It’s important to examine the results of these various polls since results can vary greatly due to small differences in the wording of questions and due to different populations being surveyed.

Posted: September 20, 2006