A nationwide poll shows confidence in America’s public schools and the No Child Left Behind Act is declining. The survey by Education Next also shows Americans believe Democrats are the party “more likely to improve the nation’s schools.”
On NCLB: half of those surveyed support leaving it as is or renewing it with minimal changes; half think it needs a major overhaul or should be done away with. The survey also shows that Americans–especially African Americans and Hispanics–are more confident in their local police force than in their local schools.
The poll results are here. Some other noteworthy nuggets:
- In 2007, the EdNext poll found 57 percent of the public supported renewing NCLB as is or with minimal changes; today only 50 percent of the public do. Support has declined among African Americans, Hispanics, and whites.
- Public school teachers are especially critical of NCLB with only 26 percent supporting renewal as is or with minimal changes; 33 percent suggest that Congress completely overhaul the act, and another 42 percent recommend that Congress not renew the act at all.
- Only 20% of African Americans give public schools an A or a B. The percentage of Hispanics giving schools a D or F has doubled since last year’s poll, from 16 to 32 percent.
“The public has more faith in its local police force than it does in its local schools,” notes EdNext. ”This is especially pronounced among African Americans and Hispanics: Fifty-five percent of African Americans and 64 percent of Hispanics gave their police force an A or B, a significantly higher show of support than for public schools. ”
- When asked whether students “who have been diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities should be taught in regular classrooms with other students,” only 25 percent of teachers, and 28 percent of the public, favored the idea. The rest said they should be “taught in separate settings.”
- 37 percent of respondents support the idea of public school districts offering parents the option of sending their child to a single-sex school; 25 percent oppose the idea; and the remainder are undecided. Support is stronger among public school teachers–47 percent approve the idea.
- More than two thirds of American parents say they would be willing to have their children take some of their high school courses over the Internet.
That 50% figure supporting NCLB is high, also. You are going to get 1/2 of the peoples’ support when you don’t mention the negative 1/2 of the law. I would be supportive of
the law if I didn’t know anything more about it and the Education Next poll question was:
“6a. As you may know, the No Child Left Behind Act requires states to set
standards in math and reading and to test students each year to determine
whether schools are making adequate progress, and to intervene when they are
not. This year, Congress is deciding whether to renew the No Child Left Behind
Act. What do you think Congress should do?”
Teachers already knew the negative side of NCLB so we did not need a question to
remind us.
John’s point about the phrasing of questions is well taken. given that it’s impossible to write totally objective questions, the Hoover survey might be taken as a nice balance to the yearly phi delta kappan poll.
what surprised me in the data is the lukewarm support for respondent’s *local* school, which has traditionally been higher. I wonder if this trend will make voters more alert to what is happening at the state level.