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The Sixth Phi Delta Kappa Poll of Teachers' Attitudes
Toward the Public Schools

With Additional Previously Unpublished Questions

By Carol A. Langdon and Nick Vesper

Illustration © 2000 by Mario Noche

THIS REPORT presents highlights from the sixth comparison of the attitudes of the nation's public school teachers and those of the public toward some of education's most important issues.* Since the first Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup nationwide survey of teachers in 1984, one trend has always emerged: teachers' perceptions and opinions rarely coincide with those of the public. Whether this is because teachers' viewpoints are shaped by firsthand experience of schools and the public's viewpoints are shaped only through news coverage and sound bites is not clear. What is clear is that, as long as teachers and the public do not agree on what the problems of schools are, little can be done to resolve them.

When asked to grade community schools, teachers and the public award almost the same number of A's (14% for teachers and 11% for the public), but they differ widely in giving B's. Half of the teachers give community schools a B, while only 38% of the public does so. Teachers do not agree among themselves: only 35% of urban and inner-city teachers give the schools a B, whereas 54% of suburban teachers and 56% of rural teachers do so.

Teachers and the public are very consistent on which factors they think are very or fairly important in choosing a school. The quality of the teaching staff is the unanimous first choice, followed closely by discipline and curriculum. However, teachers in urban, rural, and suburban schools and at all grade levels differ widely from the public on what role the reputation of the school should play: 59% of teachers say this is very or fairly important, whereas 80% of the public says so. One difference between teachers and the public is particularly disturbing: only 12% of the teachers think having a child exposed to a less diverse student body is very or fairly important, whereas 45% of the public thinks so.

Selected questions from the 1999 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools were presented to a random sampling of teachers across the nation to compare their views with the public's. For some questions, teachers' answers are broken down according to the type of community in which they teach (urban, suburban, or rural ), the degree they hold, or the grade level at which they teach. Some highlights from this year's poll follow.

*· Teachers and the public differ on how safe our public schools are. Nearly twice as many teachers (43%) as members of the public (24%) say their schools are very safe and orderly.

*· Teachers, by a ratio of 9 to 1 (18% to 2%), think more parental involvement would improve the schools. But when asked to name the main obstacle to improving schools, 12% of the public chooses parents/lack of parental involvement.

*· Teachers disagree strongly with the public on what it takes to keep teachers on the job. The public favors tying pay to performance (90%, to the teachers' 53%), whereas teachers want more pay for all teachers (89%, to the public's 62%).

*· Teachers disagree overwhelmingly with the public on using student test scores as a factor in determining teacher salaries: 3% of teachers (but 47% of the public) favor this option.

*· Forty-eight percent of teachers say academics should be the main emphasis of the public schools, whereas just 39% of the public agrees.

·* Most teachers (70%) think the best way to use federal money is for class-size reduction, but only 50% of the public agrees.

Grading the Public Schools

Over the years, when the public and teachers have been asked to grade the public schools in their community and in the nation as a whole and when teachers have been asked to grade the school in which they teach, a pattern of responses has emerged: teachers and members of the public give a higher percentage of A's and B's to their local public schools than they give to the nation's public schools, but more teachers give A's and B's to both. However, teachers break that pattern this year. While more teachers (64%) give their local public schools a grade of A or B than do members of the public (49%), the same percentages of teachers and the public (24%) give the public schools in the nation a grade of A or B. As in years past, teachers rate the school in which they teach higher than other schools in their community or in the nation: 75% assign an A or a B to their own school.

The first question:

Students are often given the grades A, B, C, D, and FAIL to denote the quality of their work. Suppose the public schools themselves, in this community, were graded in the same way. What grade would you give the public schools here -- A, B, C, D, or FAIL?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
A & B	64	49
A	14	11
B	50	38
C	25	31
D	7	9
FAIL	1	5
Don't know	3	6

The second question:

How about the public schools in the nation as a whole? What grade would you give the nation's public schools?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
A & B	24	24
A	2	2
B	22	22
C	47	46
D	13	16
FAIL	1	4
Don't know	15	10

The third question:

How about the public school in which you teach? What grade would you give your own school?

	1999
	%
A & B	75
A	27
B	48
C	16
D	6
FAIL	1
Don't know	2

Choosing a Public School

When asked to rate the importance of 12 factors in choosing a public school for a child, teachers and the public agree: the quality of the teaching staff is primary. However, maintenance of student discipline is deemed very or fairly important by 100% of teachers and by 99% of the public; curriculum, by 99% of teachers and the public; and class size, by 99% of teachers and by 94% of the public.

The question:

Here are different factors that might be considered in choosing a public school for a child, assuming free choice of public and private schools were allowed in this community. As you read each of these factors, would you indicate whether you consider it very important, fairly important, not too important, or not at all important in choosing a local school?

	Very or Fairly Important
	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Quality of the teaching staff	100	100
Maintenance of student discipline	100	99
Curriculum (i.e., the courses offered)	99	99
Size of class	99	94
Proximity to home	85	87
Extracurricular activities, such as band/orchestra, theater, clubs	84	91
Size of the school (number of students)	81	79
Having your child exposed to a more diverse student body	69	79
Reputation or prestige of the school	59	80
Athletic program	50	80
Proximity to the parent's workplace	42	60
Having your child exposed to a less diverse student body	12	45

How Safe Are Schools?

Nearly twice as many teachers (43%) as members of the public (24%) say the local schools are very safe and orderly. A majority of teachers (53%) and of the public (62%) say their community's schools are somewhat safe and orderly. Almost identical percentages (47%) of teachers in the suburbs and rural areas and small towns regard their schools as very safe, but only 34% of urban and inner-city teachers do so. This is still higher than the 24% of members of the public who say their schools are very safe and orderly. (This finding parallels the public's perception that crime is rising when, in fact, numbers show most kinds of crime are going down.) Do the differences in opinions regarding the safety of schools mean that the teachers are less demanding with regard to what is "safe and orderly," or is the public too focused on sensational news stories about violence in the schools?

The question:

Thinking about the public schools in your community, how would you describe the learning environment for students in those schools - very safe and orderly, somewhat safe and orderly, not very safe and orderly, or not at all safe and orderly?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Very safe and orderly	43	24
Somewhat safe and orderly	53	62
Not very safe and orderly	3	7
Not at all safe and orderly	1	3
Don't know	*	4
*This option was not presented to teachers.

Improvement Strategies

Desired Changes and Obstacles to Change

Teachers and the public were asked what one thing they would change in order to improve the public schools and who or what is the main obstacle to school improvement. Teachers and the public disagree about ways to improve public schools, but they agree about the obstacles to improvement. The largest proportion of teachers (18%) say that more parent involvement would improve the public schools, but only 3% of the public agrees. Twelve percent of teachers and 10% of the public say more teachers and smaller classes would improve schools, and 8% of teachers and 5% of the public say funding would lead to school improvement. Discipline/more control/stricter rules, the improvement identified by the greatest percentage of the public (12%), was chosen by just 6% of teachers.

The question:

If there was one thing you could change to improve the public schools in your community, what would that be?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
More parent involvement	18	3
More teachers/smaller class size	12	10
Funding	8	5
Discipline/more control/stricter rules	6	12
Higher pay for teachers	5	3
More/updated equipment/books/computers	3	2
Academic standards/better education	2	3
Better/more qualified teachers	*	7
Prayer/God back in schools	*	4
Dress code/uniforms	*	3
Curriculum/more offered	*	2
Security	*	4
*Less than one-half of 1%.

Teachers and the public appear to agree more about the obstacles to school improvement: funding, parents or lack of parent involvement, school boards and superintendents, politicians, and taxpayers. Interestingly, only 3% of teachers identify government as an obstacle to school improvement, while 10% of the public does so.

The question:

In your opinion who or what is the main obstacle to improving the public schools in your community?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Finances/funding	21	13
Parents/lack of parent involvement	17	12
Board of education/superintendent	7	8
Politics/politicians	6	4
Taxpayers/general public	6	4
Government	3	10
Administration/administrators	3	2
Lack of discipline/teachers can't discipline	2	3
Better teachers	*	5
Unions/teacher unions/NEA	*	3
Students/kids	*	2
*Less than one-half of 1%.

Attracting and Retaining Good Teachers

About 20% of college graduates who started teaching in 1993-94 had left the field by 1996-97.* Moreover, those who had scored in the top 25% on college entrance exams were nearly twice as likely to leave. Teachers and the public disagree about ways to attract and retain good teachers. Given five suggestions, the largest proportion of teachers (91%) favor school-financed professional development, whereas the largest proportion of the public (90%) favors increased pay for high-performing teachers. More teachers (89%) than members of the public (62%) favor increased pay for all teachers. Teachers' responses to these three suggestions do not differ by the type of community in which they teach, the grade level at which they teach, or the degree they hold. In disagreeing with the public, teachers do so with one voice.

The question:

Here are some ways that have been suggested for attracting and retaining good public school teachers. As you read each suggestion, would you indicate whether you favor it or oppose it as a way to attract and retain good teachers?

	Favor		Oppose		Don't Know
	Teachers	Public	Teachers	Public	Teachers	Public
	%	%	%	%	%	%
School-financed professional development opportunities	91	85	4	12	5	3
Increased pay for all teachers	89	62	7	37	4	1
Loans and scholarships for prospective teachers	85	86	5	12	10	2
Increased pay for teachers who demonstrate high performance	53	90	33	9	14	1
Tax credits for teachers who demonstrate high performance	39	63	39	37	22	*
*Less than one-half of 1%.

More teachers (66%) than members of the public (52%) say experience is the key factor to be considered in determining a teacher's salary. More members of the public (60%) than teachers (54%) believe a teacher's academic degree is very important. Teachers with a master's degree or higher (67%) agree with the public that degrees should influence salary, while teachers with only a bachelor's degree (33%) do not. Forty-seven percent of the public believes it is very important to use student scores on standardized tests in determining salary, but only 3% of the teachers agree with this. There are no differences in how teachers responded to this question that could be attributed to the types of communities in which they teach, the grade level at which they teach, or the degree they hold.

The question:

How important do you think each of the following factors should be in determining a public school teacher's salary? Very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not at all important?

	Very Important		Somewhat Important	Not Very Important	Not at All Important
	Teachers	Public	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers
	%	%	%		%
Years of teaching experience	66	52	31	2	1
Level of academic degree earned	54	60	39	6	1
Scores the teacher's students receive on standardized tests	3	47	27	37	33

What Should Schools Emphasize?

The largest proportion of teachers (48%) say public schools should emphasize academics, whereas the largest proportion of the public (46%) says student responsibility should be emphasized. A majority of elementary teachers (57%) believe schools should give academic skills the main emphasis, while only 41% of middle school and high school teachers agree. Even though 44% of teachers and 46% of the public agree that the main emphasis should be on student responsibility, teachers disagree among themselves: only 36% of elementary teachers think this should be the main emphasis, whereas 52% of teachers in higher grades think so.

The question:

Which one of the following areas do you think the local public schools should give the main emphasis to: the academic skills of students, the ability of students to work with others, or the ability of students to take responsibility?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Academic skills of students	48	39
Ability of students to work with others	8	13
Ability of students to take responsibility	44	46
Don't know	*	2
*This option was not presented to teachers.

The Federal Role

Teachers and the public were asked to assign priorities to five areas of public school improvement funded by the federal government. While all five areas are of the highest priority for at least 50% of the public, only two are judged so high by at least 50% of teachers. Class-size reduction is assigned the highest priority by 70% of teachers, but by only 50% of the public. Keeping teachers' salaries competitive is assigned the highest priority by 62% of teachers, but by just 54% of the public. Updating instructional materials and books, the highest priority for 72% of the public, is deemed the highest priority by 37% of teachers. School staff development is of highest priority for only 30% of teachers, but for 65% of the public. Even though class-size reduction is assigned the highest priority by 70% of teachers, 79% of elementary teachers give this area highest priority, whereas only 59% of those in the higher grades do so.

The question:

Here are a number of educational areas that receive government funding. To indicate how high a priority you think each area should have, would you mark a number between one and five - the higher the number, the higher the priority; the lower the number, the lower the priority?

	1	2	3	4	5	5
	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers	Public
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Class-size reduction	2	3	6	19	70	50
Keeping teachers' salaries competitive	2	2	9	25	62	54
Updated instructional materials and books	5	9	18	31	37	72
Technology	7	7	20	34	32	61
School staff development and training	7	7	21	35	30	65

Research Procedure

The Sixth Phi Delta Kappa Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools was developed and implemented by the Phi Delta Kappa Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research. The mail survey consisted of 24 questions - 23 from the 1999 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools and one from the 1984 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. A random sample of 2,000 public school teachers throughout the United States was provided by Market Data Retrieval. The sample was stratified proportionately by the Gallup Organization's four regions and by grade level taught.

The survey, cover letter, and a return envelope were mailed on 13 October 1999. A follow-up postcard was mailed on 22 October 1999. A second cover letter, survey, and return envelope were mailed on 10 November 1999 to a random selection of 575 nonrespondents.

The response rate was 18%, with 361 respondents returning completed surveys. This sample has an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 5% at the 95% confidence level. Reported differences in responses between elementary, middle school, and high school teachers and between inner-city, urban, suburban, small-town, and rural teachers are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

Composition of the Sample

Respondents are 79% female and 21% male; nearly 7% are of Hispanic or Latino origin; 6% are black; 1% are American Indian or Alaskan Native; 1% are Asian. Thirty-eight percent have a bachelor's degree; 56% a master's degree; 5% a specialist's degree; 1% a doctorate. A majority teach at the elementary level (57%); 18% at the middle/junior high school level; 25% at the high school level; and 1% at some other level. The respondents teach in inner cities (12%), urban areas (15%), suburbia (26%), small towns (32%), and rural areas (15%).

ADDITIONAL, UNPUBLISHED QUESTIONS

The following questions and responses are not reported in the April 2000 issue of the Phi Delta Kappan.

Choice

The question:

Here are different factors that might be considered in choosing a public school for a child, assuming free choice of public and private schools were allowed in this community. As you read each of these factors, would you indicate whether you consider it very important, fairly important, not too important, or not at all important in choosing a local school?

	Very or Fairly Important
	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Quality of the teaching staff	100	100
Maintenance of student discipline	100	99
Curriculum (i.e., the courses offered)	99	99
Size of classes	99	94
Proximity to home	85	87
Extracurricular activities, such as band/orchestra, theater, clubs	84	91
Size of the school (number of students)	81	79
Having your child exposed to a more diverse student body	69	79
Reputation or prestige of the school	59	80
Athletic program	50	80
Proximity to the parent's workplace	42	60
Having your child exposed to a less diverse student body	12	45

Biggest Problems Facing the Public Schools

The question:

What do you think are the biggest problems with which the public schools of this community must deal?

	1999	1996	1989	1984	1999
	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers	Teachers	Public
	%	%	%	%	%
Parents' lack of support/interest	18	22 (1T)	34 (1)	31 (1)	4 (6T)
Pupils' lack of interest/attitudes/truancy	13	16 (3)	26 (3)	20 (3)	2 (7T)
Lack of financial support/funding/money	9	22 (1T)	27 (2)	21 (2)	9 (3)
Lack of discipline/more control	7	20 (2)	25 (4T)	19 (4)	18 (1)
Lack of family structure/problems of home life (one-parent households '84 & '89)	6	15 (4)	8 (8)	4 (13)	­
Overcrowded schools	4	7 (5T)	7 (9T)	4 (10)	8 (4T)
Use of drugs/dope	2	7 (5T)	13 (7)	5 (7)	8 (4T)
Fighting/violence/gangs	1	7 (5T)	­	­	11 (2)
Moral standards/dress code/sex/pregnancy	*	7	4 (15T)	2 (22)	2 (7T)
*Less than one-half of 1%. (Figures add to more than 100% because of multiple answers except 1999 figures for teachers, which add to less than 100% because all answers are not reported.) Rankings for the 1984, 1989, and 1996 teacher surveys and for the 1999 public survey appear in parentheses. "T" means that a response tied for a given rank.

Improvement Strategies

Zero Tolerance Policies

The question:

Some public schools have a so-called zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy, which means that possession of any illegal drugs or alcohol by students will result in automatic suspension. Would you favor or oppose such a policy in the public schools in your community?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	93	90
Oppose	5	10
Don't know	2	*
*Less than one-half of 1%.

Standards

The first question:

In your opinion, are student achievement standards in the public schools in your community too high, about right, or too low?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Too high	8	6
About right	63	57
Too low	29	33
Don't know	*	4
*This option was not presented to teachers.

 The second question:

Social promotion means moving children from grade to grade in order to keep them with others in their own age group. Would you favor stricter standards for social promotion in school even if it meant that significantly more students would be held back?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	76	72
Oppose	15	26
Don't know	9	2

The third question:

As you know, many high school students are allowed to choose many of their academic courses. Would you favor or oppose requiring high school students to take a standardized core curriculum of certain courses?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	73	78
Oppose	17	21
Don't know	10	1

Instructional Issues

The first question:

Here is a list of different values that might be taught in the public schools. For each one, please indicate whether you think it should or should not be taught to all students in the public schools of your community.

	Teachers	Public
Should be Taught	%	%
Acceptance of people of different races and ethnic backgrounds	98	93
Honesty	98	97
Democracy	93	93
Patriotism/love of country	90	90
Caring for friends and family members	88	90
Moral courage	87	90
The Golden Rule	86	86
Acceptance of people who hold unpopular or controversial political or social views	64	71
Sexual abstinence outside of marriage	45	68
Acceptance of people with different sexual orientations, that is, homosexuals or bisexuals	35	55
Acceptance of the right of a woman to choose abortion	16	48

The second question:

In your opinion, which one of the following methods would provide the most accurate picture of a public school student's academic progress?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Examples of the student's work	60	33
Letter grades awarded by the teacher	16	23
Scores on standardized local and state achievement tests	13	27
Written observations by the teacher	11	14
Don't know	**	14
**This option was not presented to teachers.

Public School Alternatives

Trend Questions on Public/Private School Relationship

The first question:

Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	13	41
Oppose	82	55
Don't know	5	4

The second question:

A proposal has been made that would allow parents to send their school-age children to any public, private, or church-related school they choose. For those parents choosing nonpublic schools, the government would pay all or part of the tuition. Would you favor or oppose this proposal in your state?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	16	51
Oppose	79	47
Don't know	5	2

Vouchers

The question:

In the voucher system, parents are given a voucher which can be used to pay all the tuition for attendance at a private or church-related school. Parents can then choose any private school, church-related school, or public school for their child. If a parent chooses a public school, the voucher would not apply. Would you favor or oppose the adoption of the voucher system in your state?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	17	47
Oppose	76	48
Don't know	7	5

Home Schooling

The first question:

Would you favor or oppose making the following public school services available, at public expense, to children who are schooled at home?

	Favor		Oppose		Don't Know
	Teachers	Public	Teachers	Public	Teachers	Public
	%	%	%	%	%	%
The opportunity to participate in public school extracurricular activities	42	74	51	25	7	1
Special education courses for disabled or handicapped children	60	92	32	7	8	1
Driver's education	43	73	51	26	6	1
The opportunity for home-schooling teachers to participate in local public school teacher development activities	48	80	40	18	12	1

The second question:

Would you favor or oppose requiring children who are schooled at home to take all the state and national assessment tests that public school students are required to take?

	Teachers	Public
	%	%
Favor	94	92
Oppose	4	7
Don't know	2	1

Teacher Poll Trend Question About Discipline

The question:

How serious a problem would you say discipline is in the public schools in your community -- very serious, fairly serious, not too serious, or not at all serious?

	1998	1989	1984
	%	%	%
Very serious	13	11	16
Fairly serious	36	39	33
Not too serious	44	42	35
Don't know	7	8	14

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