best of myshortpencil
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The Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools
Phi Delta
Kappa
Oct. 2005

PDK
has released its 37th annual poll results on the public’s attitude toward public
schools. Setting aside misleading
questions and methodological problems, let’s see what the most significant
findings are.

1. Lack of financial support is solidly entrenched in the public mind as the
major problem facing the nation’s public schools. Responding to an
open-ended question, 20% of those surveyed mention lack of financial support.
This problem has been among the top problems mentioned for 15 straight years and
has been the top problem for six years running. This year, it attracts almost
twice the number of mentions of any other problem.

When
you consider that 10% of the public is either employed in public schools or has
an immediate family member so employed, and that union press releases constantly
reinforce alleged funding problems, it’s rather surprising that more people
don’t think lack of financial support is the biggest problem of public schools.

The same is true in public education. We need schools for The
21st Century Student, where most instruction is provided over the Internet
for students to use at their own teacher-guided pace on their own schedules. The
biggest problem facing public schools is the failure to rapidly create
captivating, exceptional-quality online lessons to be substituted for classroom
instruction where it makes sense and for the students who can thrive by it. The
problem is not the amount of money, but how it’s being spent.

2. The high level of support Americans give to schools in their community is
unchanged, and support for the public schools grows in direct proportion to the
closeness of respondents to those schools. In this poll, 24% assign an A or
a B to the nation’s schools; 48% award an A or a B to schools in the
community. This figure rises to 57% when public school parents grade the schools
in the community and to 69% when parents grade the school their oldest child
attends.

People
seem to grade the quality of public schools based on more than academic
outcomes. Compared to what public schools could be accomplishing academically
with 21st century schools, very few of them warrant a grade higher than B+.

3. The public’s strong preference is for improvement that comes by
reforming the current public schools rather than by finding an alternative
system. Asked to choose between the two options, the public has, since this
question was first asked, consistently chosen reform through the existing
system.

I
happen to think that approach can work, though I’m not opposed to alternative
systems. The problem with reforming the present system is that it just isn’t
happening to any great extent. It’s all just Tinkering.
That’s a tragedy because we are cheating our children out of a better future.

4. The public opposes permitting parents and students to choose to attend
private schools at public expense. Fifty-seven percent of respondents oppose
making this choice available as compared to 38% who favor it. The percentage in
favor peaked at 46% in 2002 and has declined by 8% since that time.

All
schools are public schools. All schools are private schools. It’s a
distinction about trivialities, not academics and learning. How is it in the
public’s interest to deny students the opportunity to be educated in the best
school available? The children of teachers are disproportionately represented
among private school students. What’s good for the kids of teachers can’t be bad
for the rest of us.

9. The public believes that the current emphasis on standardized tests will
lead teachers to teach to the test and does not regard this as a positive
outcome. Fifty-eight percent say that teaching to the test will be
encouraged, and 54% say that this is a bad thing.

It
is a bad thing. But it’s not as bad a thing as not testing students and letting
them watch movies and talk about feelings in their march toward a diploma. Had
the standards of teachers not fallen so low, we never would have needed mandated
standardized testing. It’s a pox created by the profession.

11. The public believes that the achievement gap can be substantially
narrowed while maintaining high standards for all students. Eighty-one
percent of respondents hold the view that the gap can be narrowed without
sacrificing high standards.

In
theory, the public is right. In practice, that’s not the way things are going.
Where the achievement gap is being closed, it has more to do with changes in
tests and scoring. While the standards stay high, what students must do to
demonstrate proficiency is being reduced. It’s high standards with low
accountability, which makes high standards meaningless.

14. The NCLB strategies are frequently out of step with approaches favored by
the public.

* NCLB uses a single test to determine if a school is in need of improvement.
Sixty-eight percent say that a single test cannot give a fair picture.

It
isn’t fair, but the unfairness doesn’t cut the way most people believe. The use
of a single test makes schools look better than they are since there’s only one
test to prep for! Schools are gaming these exams and reducing the scope of
instruction. "What gets measured gets done."

* NCLB tests only English and math to determine if a school is in need of
improvement. Eighty percent say testing English and math only will not give a
fair picture. This rises to 87% within the "great deal" of knowledge
group.

* NCLB gives parents of a child attending a school found to be in need of
improvement the chance to transfer their child to a school making "adequate
yearly progress" (AYP). Seventy-nine percent say they would prefer to have
additional help given to their child in his or her own school.

Students
can choose that option if they like. They can also transfer out.

* NCLB requires that test scores be broken out into eight groups based on
ethnicity, English-speaking ability, poverty level, and disability status and
reported separately by each group. A plurality of 48% opposes this requirement,
with most of that group saying that they do so because they believe all students
are equal — and presumably should be treated in the same way.

How
can you assure all students are being treated equally unless you look at
different groups of students? Moreover, what does equal treatment mean? Equal
results? Equal instruction? Equal opportunity?

* Support for reporting scores separately, however, is strong among those
claiming knowledge of NCLB.

* With limited exceptions, NCLB requires students enrolled in special education
to meet the same standards as other students. Sixty-eight percent say these
students should not be held to the same standards.

If
students never have to reach, how can they be the best they can be?

* NCLB includes the scores of special education students in determining whether
a school is or is not in need of improvement. Sixty-two percent say these scores
should not be included.

What
about equality for special education students?

* * *

* NCLB determines whether a school has made AYP based on the percentage of
students meeting fixed goals in passing English and math. Eighty-five percent
believe that it would be better to base AYP on improvement shown during the
year.

That
reform is coming. It’s called value-added
assessment.

* * *

16. The public is equally divided on whether a large number of school
failures would reflect shortcomings of the schools or of the law. Forty-five
percent believe that the public schools should be blamed if a large number of
schools fail to meet requirements. Forty-three percent say it is the law that
should be blamed.

That’s
the ideal result for such a question. But, when you consider all the changes that
make it easier for schools to meet AYP, and all the testing and scoring games
played to avoid missing AYP, a large number of school failures would more
greatly reflect the shortcomings of schools than of the law.

17. The public’s concerns regarding NCLB are consistent with the facts that
the public favors a curriculum that offers a wide variety of courses and would
prefer to see a child of theirs be active in extracurricular activities and earn
average grades in school as compared to earning A grades but not participating
in activities. Asked to choose between a wide variety of courses and a
concentration of courses, 61% of respondents opt for a wide variety of courses.
Given a choice between having a child of theirs earn A grades and having a child
earn average grades but be active in extracurricular activities, 64% choose
average grades and extracurricular activities.

This
is why China is going to eat our lunch. The short term happiness gained by
mediocre learning and fun activities is going to produce long term misery for
our children. The adults should know better.

18. The public does not believe that the increasingly common practice of
pursuing postsecondary education online should lead to a requirement that each
high school student take at least one course online. Fifty-six percent of
respondents say they would not require each high school student to take one
course online.

Remember
the people of Famished? More than half of a typical high schoolers instruction
should be provided online.

20. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed would like to see a child of theirs
take up teaching as a career. Sixty-two percent of respondents endorse
teaching as a career for their child.

I
guess most people don’t see teaching as such a badly paid career.