Public Opinion and Public
Education: Communicating for
Advocacy
Presented to the Utah School Boards Association Convention
January 13, 2007
Terri Duggan Schwartzbeck
American Association of School Administrators
www.despair.com
About AASA
• Professional organization for 13,000 school
system leaders and superintendents
– Also professors of educational administration and
aspiring school system leaders
• Mission: to support and develop effective school
system leaders who are dedicated to the highest
quality public education for all children
• Stand Up for Public Education™ initiative to
support public education as the heart of our
democracy
About the Stand Up for Public
Education™ Campaign
• Launched in 2003 in response
to NCLB and continued
challenges for public
education
• Three emphases:
– Giving school leaders the tools
to Stand Up for Public Education
– Responding to misinformation
about public education
– Reshaping the dialogue about
public education around how to
have schools that are effective
for each child
• Polling, toolkits, web page,
merchandise, and newsletters
Polling Findings – and our Agenda
• Political context
• Where does the public get information
about public education? Who do they
believe?
• How the public feels about accountability
in an NCLB world
• How the public feels about current high
school reform efforts
• Vision and values in public education
Political Context
www.despair.com
Right Direction/Wrong Track
• Most Americans continue to feel that the
country is off on the wrong track.
57
50
46
37
60
51
43
35
56
40
52
52
55
44
43
40
59
35
65
64
32
33
67
66
30
28
Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun03
03
03
04
04
04
04
05
05
05
05
06
06
Right Direction
Wrong Track
Q. Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the
right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?
AP/Ipsos Poll
Presidential Approval
• The President’s job approval rating has declined steadily
over the last year with many polling organizations
reporting all-time lows.
58
39
55
43
53
44
49
50
52
51
50
48
48
46
47
48
55
43
59
57
39
42
60
37
63
36
Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun03
03
03
04
04
04
04
05
05
05
05
06
06
Approve
Disapprove
Q. Overall, do you approve, disapprove, or have mixed feelings about the way
George W. Bush is handling his job as President?
AP/Ipsos Poll
National Issue Agenda
• Education rates very low when people are asked to name the
most important problem facing the US today.
• This speaks to the need to address education at the local level.
Foreign affairs (NET)
War
Immigration
Terrorism
Other foreign affairs
Domestic Issues (NET)
Political leaders
Energy crisis
Morality
Crime/Drugs
Education
Environment
Other domestic issues
Economy (NET)
Economy (unspecified)
Unemployment
Other economy issues
47
19
13
7
8
29
8
6
6
2
1
1
6
14
6
4
4
Q. In your opinion, what is the most important problem facing the US today?
AP/Ipsos Poll
Education in the U.S. – Right
Direction or Wrong Direction?
61
51
43
10/03
53
53
53
55
48
42
2/04
40
3/04
Right Direction
43
8/04
41
1/05
51
38
37
7/05
9/05
35
7/06
Wrong Direction
Are public schools in THE U.S. headed in the right direction or the wrong direction? (Ipsos July 2006)
Where does the public (and
parents) get their information about
public schools?
Who do they believe?
Whose voice?
Newspapers and Television Are The Predominant
Passive Sources of Information About Public Schools
Was the Source of the MOST RECENT item about public schools you saw, read, or heard…
49%
46%
August '03
October '03
38%
35%
7%
Print
Television
Ipsos/AASA Poll
7%
Radio
6%
5%
Internet
3%
1%
Other
Credibility as a News Source on Public Schools
Starts In The Classroom And Ends In Washington
89%
86%
Your child´s teacher(s)*
88%
Teachers
80%
84%
Your child´s principal*
72%
79%
Principals
67%
74%
School leaders
61%
69%
School administrators
59%
October '03
August '03
On a scale from 0 to 10, please tell me how credible you think that source is when it
comes to news about public school education. Note: Chart shows total % credible (6-10)
Ipsos/AASA poll
Credibility of Public School Education
News Sources continued
Local Media **
58%
School Board Members **
56%
Superintendents
55%
NEA
56%
AASA
49%
State officials
66%
63%
57%
50%
40%
National Media **
48%
Federal officials
39%
October '03
August '03
44%
Ipsos/AASA poll
On a scale from 0 to 10, please tell me how credible you think that source is when it
comes to news about public school education. Note: Chart shows total % credible (6-10)
The Trust Index
Teachers
71
Parents
62
Other parents
59
Principals
55
Radio
46
Gates Foundation
44
School district website
44
Students
44
Local newspapers
43
Local TV news
43
Local school system leaders
43
School board members
36
National newspapers
29
US Dept of Educ Officials
26
National TV news
25
Think tank leaders
High Trust
15
Medium Trust
5. Now I would like to read you some possible
sources of information about your local public high
schools. For each one I read, please tell me if you
completely trust, somewhat trust, trust only a
little, or do not at all trust the source of
information about local high schools.
Low Trust
Ipsos/AASA poll July 2006
Local School Leaders are Believable
on Funding Issues
High-level
government
official
14%
Not sure
2%
Neither 4%
Local school leader
80%
When a high level official
from the U.S. Department
of Education says there is
sufficient funding to meet
new federal standards for
student achievement and a
local school leader says the
federal initiatives are
under-funded, who is more
believable?
Ipsos/AASA Poll February 2004
Public Doesn’t Believe That Schools
“Aren’t Trying Hard Enough”
Not believe
37%
24%
Total not believe 61%
Believe
26%
11%
Total believe 37%
Not sure
2%
Probably
Definitely
Suppose you read or heard a
news report in which a highlevel official from the U.S.
Department of Education
says that students are not
making sufficient progress
because teachers and
administrators are not trying
hard enough. Is that
something you would
definitely believe, probably
believe, definitely not
believe or probably not
believe?
Other
Ispos/AASA poll February 2004
Teachers and Leaders Have the Best Ideas
on How to Improve Schools
Other 8%
Senior researcher from
a think tank
7%
College or
University
Professor
8%
Included in “Other”
Local
school
leader
24%
Local
Teacher
53%
Political Candidate 3%
Federal Official 2%
None of the above 2%
Not Sure 1%
Who do you think would have the best ideas about
how to improve schools?
Ipsos/AASA poll March 2004
Effective Advocacy:
Reaching Your Audience
• Work hard to develop a good trust relationship
with local media, especially local newspapers
and the local television news stations your
community watches
• Most (about 70 – 75%) of the public reads, sees
or hears news about public schools
• The main passive sources of education
information are
– Local newspapers
– Local television news
Effective Advocacy:
Choosing the Right Messenger
• Superintendents are a credible source of
information about schools
• Teachers and principals are even more credible
• Federal officials are the least credible source of
information about education
• Think tanks are less credible than teachers or
school system leaders in
– judging how effective schools are
– Determining how to improve schools
• When you disagree with “officials” from
Washington, the public believes you
The Public and Accountability
in the NCLB World
www.despair.com
People Are Influenced More
By State Labels
2. As you may know, schools around the country are rated in two ways – a state accountability system required
under state law and a federal accountability system required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Is your opinion
about the quality of schools in your community influenced more by state labels or federal labels?
All
68%
State labels
63%
20%
21%
Federal labels
Both equally
Neither
Parents
2%
3%
5%
6%
Ipsos/AASA poll August 2004
Impressions of School Quality Would Decline
Somewhat for Schools in the Penalty Phase
If you heard that a school in your community received a passing mark under the state accountability system, but has
failed to make adequate progress and is in the penalty phase under the federal requirements, would your impression
of that school’s quality decline significantly, decline somewhat, or would it not have much of an effect at all?
All
42%
Parents
45%
31%
24%
27%
Decline significantly
26%
Decline somewhat
Not much effect
Ipsos/AASA August 2004 poll
N=1,000
A Majority Disagree with “One
Size Fits All” Penalties for Schools
Under the federal No Child Left Behind accountability system, there are at least 36 achievement targets that
each school must meet. Currently, a school that misses 1 or 2 of its targets receives the same penalty as a school
that misses nearly all of its targets. Do agree or disagree with this way of penalizing schools?
All
Parents
53%
25%
51%
23%
15%
8%
10%
Strongly agree
11%
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Ipsos/AASA poll August 2004
N=1,000
Measuring Student Progress Should
Focus On EACH Child
There is a lot of discussion about the best way to measure student progress in our public schools. Which of
the following ways of measuring student progress comes closest to your own opinion?
Not sure
1%
A system that measures the progress
of all children
20%
A system that measures the progress
of each individual child
79%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Ispos/AASA poll July 2005
Following Students Year to Year Is Best
Measure Of Teaching Effectiveness
8. Thinking about the impact of teaching, which of the following do you think is the best way to accurately measure
the job that teachers are doing in educating children…
Following the progress of each student
40%
from year to year on state tests
Making adequately yearly progress as
16%
defined under the federal No Child Left
Comparing average state scores for the
15%
school as a whole from year to year
13%
Student grades
Average state test scores for each school
10%
as a whole
Not sure
6%
Individuals who feel U.S.
public schools are
headed in the right
direction are more likely
to report AYP as an
accurate measure of
teaching effectiveness
(23% vs. 12% among
those who feel schools
are headed in the wrong
direction).
Ipsos/AASA poll July 2005
Impact of Standardized Testing
• Both parents and teachers are more likely to say that increased
emphasis on standardized testing has taken individual attention
away from students.
Parents
Teachers
Increased emphasis
on standardized
64
testing has reduced
the ability of
teachers to provide
77
individual attention
to students
Increased emphasis
on standardized
33
testing has
improved the
overall quality of
22
education in the
school
AP/AOL Poll – January 2006
Q. Which comes closest to your view about testing at (your child’s school/your school)?
Meeting NCLB Requirements
• Teachers are much less confident than parents that
their schools will meet state standards by the 20132014 school year.
Parents
Teachers
5
20
21
16
Not
too
Not at
all
37
very
very
somewhat
Not
too
28
somewhat
31
41
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not too confident
Not at all confident
Not too confident
Not at all confident
Q. The No Child Left Behind law says that ALL students must meet their state’s standards
in reading and math by 2013-2014. How confident are you that (your child’s school/your
school) will meet those standards by the deadline?
AP/AOL Poll – January 2006
The Achievement Gap
• A strong majority of Americans believe that the achievement gap
between white students and Hispanic and black students is the
result of “other factors.”
• Parents, teachers, and students all play a role in determining
success.
75
43
33
20
17
Quality of schooling
Q.
Q.
Other factors
Students
Teachers
Parents
In your opinion, is the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students
mostly related to the quality of schooling received or mostly related to other factors?
In your opinion, who is most important in determining how well or how poorly students perform in
school . . .?
PDK/Gallup – June 2005
The Public and Current High
School Reform Efforts
A Mixed Bag
Few Want Major Overhaul of High Schools,
But Few Are Completely Satisfied
Do you think the public high schools in your community…
Need a complete overhaul
Need major changes
Need minor changes
Are doing well and don't need many changes
74%
65%
57%
50%
30%
24%
10%
8%
15%
16%
All
All
17%
20%
Public School
Parents
Public School
Parents
Ipsos/AASA January 2005 poll
The public wants “improvement” –
not overhaul
49
Improvement
19
Major Reform
Complete
Overhaul
18
No changes
needed
Not sure
9
5
4. Now I would like to read you some words to describe possible changes in your local high schools.
Please tell me which one you think best describes the changes that you personally feel need to be
made to your local high schools. Do you think your local high schools need… (Ipsos July 2006)
The Public Is Divided On Priorities
For High Schools
Some people say that high schools should put a higher priority on
preparing students for college, while others would say that high
schools should put a higher priority on providing students with basic
skills, regardless of whether students continue to college or not.
Which of these positions comes closest to your own opinion?
2%
6%
Prepare for
college
Basic skills
42%
51%
Should focus on preparing students for college
Should focus on providing students with basic skills
Neither
Not sure/refused
Priority – Preparing for college:
•Non-white (58%)
•Age 18-34 (55%)
•Parents (50%)
•Urban (49%)
•Men (47%)
•Schools headed in right direction (47%)
Priority – Basic Skills:
•Women (57%)
•Age 65+ (63%)
•Rural (60%)
•HS education or less (57%)
•Non-parents (55%)
Ipsos/AASA January 2005 poll
But…Most Agree That High Schools Have A
Responsibility to Prepare Students for College
Now please tell me whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the
following statement – High schools have a responsibility to prepare every child for college.
38%
29%
19%
13%
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Ipsos/AASA January 2005 poll
Job Training is the Most Supported Reform, But Strong
Majorities Support Standards, Testing, Exit Exams
Some people are advocating reforming high schools. For each item I read, please tell me whether you strongly agree,
somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with each possible type of high school reform. How much do you
agree or disagree with…
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Expanded job training for students who do
NOT go to college
Required subject area standards, such as
requiring students to take four years of
mathematics
Annual standardized testing to measure
student performance
Requiring exit examinations that students
must pass before they are allowed to graduate
Strongly disagree
74%
58%
46%
53%
20%
27%
34%
27%
Ipsos/AASA January 2005 poll
Career and Technical Skills Retain Favor
Providing career and technical skills
37
Preparing all students for college
17
Getting more kids to graduate
16
Making high school less anonymous
12
Making schools more rigorous
11
All of these (VOL)
4
None of these (VOL)
2
Not sure
1
6. If you could make one change to your local high schools, would it be…? (Ipsos July 2006)
Most Popular School Board Policy Issues
Design recovery programs for low-performing
students (math/literacy)
7. Now, suppose that
you were voting in a
local school board
election where
changes in the local
high schools were an
important issue.
Which of the following
candidates would be
most likely to
support? Would you
be most likely to
support a candidate
who proposed…or….?
* % of times each option
picked
63
59
Higher-level knowledge for college prep
57
Teacher/administrator incentives
Accountability by setting benchmarks and
intervening in low-performing schools
Work readiness assessments
College-readiness assessments
Covering costs of AP or IB exams and college
prep classes for low-income students
50
41
39
32
Ipsos July 2006
Do parents think students are
prepared to succeed?
…in the work
world
yes, 61%
…in college
not sure, n/a
no 12%
27%
not sure, n/a
24%
no 7%
yes, 69%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Public Agenda Reality Check 2006
And most think their child gets enough
math and science now
Less math
& science
2%
Don’t
know
9%
Things are
fine as is
32%
57%
More math
and science
Public Agenda Reality Check 2006
But they agree with international
competitiveness proposals
Percent of parents who say the following will improve high school education in
the United States:
Updating high school classes to better match skills employers want – 71%
Greatly increasing the number and quality of math and science courses
students take in high schools – 67%
Making sure that our high schools expect as much from students as high
schools in Europe and Asia – 56%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Public Agenda Reality Check 2006
Values and Vision in Public
Education
Most Important Goal: Providing
Children with Tools to Succeed
And from the list of goals I just read, if you had to pick just ONE goal as the most important goal,
what do you think the most important goal for a school in your community should be?
34%
Providing children with the tools they need to succeed in life
20%
Mastery of the basics
16%
Creating well-rounded children
8%
Critical thinking
Meeting high expectations
Basics as a foundation for critical thinking
Meeting state standards
5%
4%
3%
Minimum competency 1%
Meeting state targets 1%
Something else
8%
Ipsos/AASA August 2004 poll
Developing Better Citizens Is Seen As a
More Critical Goal For Schools
There are two important tasks in public schools today – developing better citizens and improving achievement. If
you had to prioritize, which would you say is more critical to the future of the country – developing better citizens
or improving achievement?
All
57%
Parents
58%
36%
38%
6%
Developing better citizens
Improving achievement
4%
Both equally
Ipsos/AASA August 2004 poll
N=1,000
The Vision Thing
• The public has a vision of quality public education:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
The American dream
A school where students are happy and eager to learn
Dedicated and trained teachers
Strong parent involvement
Good discipline
Available information about student achievement
Reasonable class sizes
• Educators share these goals…yet…
 61 percent of the public thinks schools are going in the
wrong direction!
Learning First Alliance
We have a great group of young people
in school today: Less crime
Serious violent crime offending rate by youth ages 12 to 17, 1980-2000
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization
Survey. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Supplementary
Homicide Reports.
Less smoking
Percentage of students who reported smoking cigarettes daily in
the previous 30 days by school grade (1980-2003)
SOURCE: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Monitoring the
Future Survey.
Less teen pregnancy
Pregnancy Rate per 1,000 women aged 15-19
250
223.8
222.3
216.6
200
209.9
198.7
181.4
175.1
168.1
162
156.1
153.3
88.7
85.7
83.6
150
116.9
115.3
100
111
108
104.6
99.6
95.6
91.4
50
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
All women
1995
1996
1997
Black women
Source: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004.
1998
1999
2000
But perception is disconnected
from reality
Please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the following
statements.
I have more concern that teens today will engage in
aggressive behavior than my parents did when I was a
teenager
Today’s young people commit fewer crimes and are less
likely to use drugs and alcohol than previous generations
71%
84%
46%
60%
25%
27%
14%
16%
24%
11%
9%
1%
5%
1%
Strongly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Strongly Not Sure
Agree
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
Disagree
Ipsos/AASA February 2004 poll
1%
1%
Strongly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Strongly Not Sure
Agree
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
Disagree
But, there is hope
Please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or
strongly disagree with the following statements:
Total Agree
58%
Total Disagree
54%
40%
Children Today Work Harder in School –
They Take More Classes and Harder Classes
– Than Previous Generations
Ipsos/AASA March 2004 poll
43%
Children Today are More Likely to be Good
Citizens
Wrap Up/Take-Away
• School leaders have credibility
• Public does not lend the federal
government much credibility
• Use your voice to put out positive
messages and communicate your vision
and values
– Citizens
– Each child
– Tools to succeed in life
Questions?
www.despair.com
For more information:
Terri Duggan Schwartzbeck
703-875-0764
tschwartzbeck@aasa.org