College- and career-ready graduatesWhat the public thinks about standards, tests and the purpose of a public education

September 2016

Gauging Americans’ views on public educationAmerican high schools were traditionally structured to prepare graduates for either college or jobs. But over the last two decades, the mission for public schools has shifted from an either/or approach to both/and.

Most states have shown their commitment to this mission by adopting college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. Districts are now undertaking the hard work to implement them – a job that can only succeed with the support of the community. Understanding where they stand in regard to the CCR agenda is the vital first step.

In the following pages, we provide some insight by examining national public opinion polls on education. What we find is that the public often conflates the goal of college- and career-readiness with their views on the Common Core and standardized testing, clouding what could otherwise be strong support for CCR.

School leaders looking to make the shift should query their own community so they can better understand their hopes and concerns. The questions that follow could be a good place to begin.

Americans differ over the main goal of public education

prepare students academ-ically

prepare them for work prepare them to be good citizens

33

17 18

12

8 8

Percent of public

strongly somewhat

Question: What do you think should be the main goal of a public school education?

SOURCE: PDK, 2016

45

25 26

But they show more agreement about what the content of that education should be

to think c

ritica

lly

with fa

ctual in

formation in

each su

bject

to be good citizens

to work

in groups

with good w

ork habits

42 48 45 3552

40 37 3741

38

Percent of public

extremely very

Question: How important do you think it is for schools to prepare students …

SOURCE: PDK, 2016

82 8276

8590

Parents overwhelmingly see that today’s high school graduates need a different preparation

Series1

62

34

4

Percent of parents

very different somewhat different the same

Question: Compared to 20 years ago, what a student needs to learn in high school today is …

SOURCE: Achieve, Inc. 2015

Parents view real-world learning opportunities as a key part of preparing students for success

encourage highest math/science

parent involvement

communicate with parents

extra help for struggling students

access to AP/IB

challenging standards

individual guidance

engaging curriculum

real-world learning

15

20

21

29

32

34

38

42

50

Percent of parents

Question: which 2 or 3 of these are most important to ensure that students are well-prepared for college or work?

SOURCE: Achieve, Inc. 2015

Most public school parents also support raising expectations for students

higher aca

demic sta

ndards

require 4 yr

s math, in

cluding Alg II

require biology,

chemist

ry, physi

cs

31 32 27

38 2929

Percent of parents

help a great deal help some

Question: what impact would [this] have on your child’s preparedness for success at work or college after high school?

SOURCE: Achieve, Inc., 2015

6961

56

Teachers rank critical thinking first among college- and career-ready characteristics

score proficient on [CCR] test

pass [college prep] sequence

have independent study skills

complete career program with work opportunity

ready for post-secondary courses without remediation

have critical thinking skills

8

41

50

59

62

78

Percent of teachers

Question: choose 3 items from list that you think are the most important for college- and career-readiness.

SOURCE: CTA/Ed Source survey, 2015. Survey of California teachers.

Main takeaways

• There is no public consensus on public education’s main goal. A plurality thinks it should be academic preparation, but there is strong support for preparing workers and good citizens, too.

• Even so, there’s fairly strong agreement on the importance of high standards and expectations for students, regardless of their after high school goals.

• The public and educators place particular emphasis on critical thinking as important for today’s graduates.

• The public, educators and parents further value real-world learning opportunities and high-level content.

What’s in a name?“Common core” vs. “college- and career-ready” branding yields different reactions

Support for Common Core has fallen from high to lukewarm in four years

general public teachers

90 87

5044

Percent of …

2012 2016

Question: States have been deciding whether to use the Common Core, standards that are the same across states. Do you support the use of the Common Core in your state?

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

The idea of common standards doesn’t lose support as much as the name “Common Core”

general public teachers

92

6766

50

Percent of …

2012 2016

Question: States have been deciding whether to use standards that are the same across states. Do you support the use of these standards in your state?

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

African Americans, Hispanics and Democrats are more likely to support Common Core standards

African Americans

Hispanics Whites Republicans Democrats

5446 39 35

48

2329 48 53 32

22 2413 12

19

Percent of …

support oppose neither

Question: States have been deciding whether to use the Common Core, standards that are the same across states. Do you support the use of the Common Core in your state?

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

A majority of all groups support “common standards”

African Americans

Hispanics Whites Republicans Democrats

54 58 54 52 58

1219 32 34 24

3323

13 13 18

Percent of …

support oppose neither

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

Question: States have been deciding whether to use standards that are the same across states. Do you support the use of these standards in your state?

Misconceptions about Common Core are widespread and cross party lines

sex education evolution global warming American revolution

41

4648

55

47

4143 4445

4037

43

Percent saying ‘yes’

Democrat Republican Independent

15SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015

Question: Is this topic included in the Common Core?

Note: None of these topics appears in the standards.

The more individuals had heard about Common Core, the more likely they were to be wrong

a lot nothing

25

44

18

49

26

56

Percent who were right about all 4 topics

Democrat Republican Independent

16SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015

Question: How much have you heard about the Common Core?

Parents have conflicting views about new standards and their impact on students

new standards

amount of le

arning

academic

challe

nge

standardize

d testi

ng

4540

475151

32

21

8

2731

35

Percent of public school parents

better/increase worse/decrease no effect

17SOURCE: PDK, 2016

Questions: is the change in standards better or worse?

Have the new standards increased, decreased or had no effect on …?

Main takeaways

• Support for the Common Core was once high, but has plummeted in the last four years, especially among teachers. Parents find the new standards more challenging, but aren’t convinced the change is better. This suggests that problems with implementation and testing may be the issue.

• The Common Core has also become highly politicized, and support differs by race and party affiliation. Yet the public overall supports the idea of common standards across the states.

• Controversy about the Common Core won’t necessarily spill over to college- and career-readiness as long as teachers and parents are on board with the change.

Public opinion and testsAmbivalence about the role of assessment in public schools

The public and parents support yearly testing; teachers, less so

general public parents teachers

69 6649

20 2446

11 8 5

Percent of…

support oppose neither

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

Question: do you support the federal government’s requirement to test all students in math and reading in grades 3-8 and once in high school?

Support for testing is strongest among Hispanics and Democrats

African American

Hispanic White Republicans Democrats

6775 69 66 72

1613 21 23 17

16 12 10 10 11

Percent of…

support oppose neither

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

Question: do you support the federal government’s requirement to test all students in math and reading in grades 3-8 and once in high school?

The public does not support “opting out” of tests; parents and teachers aren’t as sure

general public parents teachers

2637 39

6049 52

15 13 8

Percent of…

support oppose neither

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

Question: do you support letting parents decide whether to have their children take state math and reading tests?

Opinions on “opt outs” vary somewhat by race, but not by political affiliation

African American

Hispanic White Republicans Democrats

31 3223 27 25

4754

63 60 62

2215 13 14 14

Percent of…

support oppose neither

SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

Question: do you support letting parents decide whether to have their children take state math and reading tests?

While the public sees a place for tests, most also believe they receive too much emphasis

nation Afr.Am. Hisp. White Rep.

6457 60 65 60

71

79

13 58

419 25 16 20 21

16

10 9 11 10 11 9

Percent of…

too much emphasis not enough right amount don't know

Dem.

SOURCE: PDK/Gallup, 2015

Question: is there too much emphasis on standardized testing in public schools, not enough emphasis, or about the right amount?

Main takeaways

• Public opinion about college- and career-readiness seems to be conflated with feelings about standardized tests and the politics around Common Core.

• There is majority support for standardized testing, but most also think they are currently over-emphasized.

• Engaging the community’s support for CCR depends on understanding their concerns and disentangling the goal from the tests so together you can focus on how to prepare all your students for success after high school.

References• Achieve, Inc., Rising to the challenge: Views on high school graduates’ preparedness,

2015. www.achieve.org

• Fairleigh Dickinson University, Public Mind Poll, Common Core Misconceptions, February 2015. http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2015/commoncore/

• PDK Poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools, September 2016, and Critical issues in public education: The 2016 Phi Delta Kappa Survey, Topline report, August 2016. http://pdkpoll2015.pdkintl.org/

• Peterson, Paul, Henderson, West and Barrows, Ten-year trends in public opinion from the EdNext poll, August 2016 and Education Next, Program of education policy and governance, Survey 2016, www.educationnext.org

• The 47th annual PDK/Gallup poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools, September 2015 http://pdkpoll2015.pdkintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/pdkpoll47_2015.pdf

• EdSource/CTE survey of teachers, September 2015. https://edsource.org/2015/college-and-career-readiness-an-edsourcecta-survey-of-teachers/88053