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Research Bulletin

Phi Delta Kappa Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research
April 2000, No. 26

Sixth Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools:
Selected Questions and Responses
by Carol A. Langdon

When it comes to questions about public schools, teachers and the public do not always agree. This should not be a surprise, given teachers' firsthand perspectives. For example, teachers and the public tend to disagree about what are the biggest problems with which their community schools must deal. Since 1984, teachers have said the number-one problem is parents' lack of support/interest, mentioned by 18% of teachers this year. The biggest problem identified by most members of the public (18%) this year is lack of discipline/more control. School choice is another issue on which teachers and the public disagree. Nearly 80% of teachers say they oppose such alternatives as government-funded tuition and vouchers, but the public is more evenly divided.

Fortunately, teachers do agree with the public about some important issues. This year there is strong agreement about what values should be taught in the public schools: honesty, acceptance of people of different races and ethnic backgrounds, and democracy. Teachers and the public also agree that academic standards are about right, that social promotion needs to be more strictly controlled, and that high school students should take a standardized core curriculum of certain courses.

This bulletin reports selected questions and responses from the sixth Phi Delta Kappa Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.1 The survey consisted of 23 questions 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. The questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2,000 public school teachers throughout the United States in October 1999. The sample was stratified proportionately by the Gallup Organization's four regions and by grade level taught. The response rate was 18%, with 361 teachers 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 are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

BIGGEST PROBLEMS FACING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Whenever teachers are asked to identify the biggest problems in their community's public schools, the problem they mention most often is parents' lack of support/interest. "We need to tell parents how important it is to read, sing, and talk with their children. If children get a slow start at home, they cannot get a fast start when they begin school," writes an inner-city elementary teacher. Parents' lack of support/interest was named by 18% of teachers this year but just 4% of the public. The problem named most often by 18% of the public was lack of discipline/more control, mentioned by 7% of teachers. Pupils' lack of interest/attitudes/truancy was mentioned by 13% of teachers but only 2% of the public. Fighting/violence/gangs was named by 11% of the public but just 1% of teachers. However, lack of financial support/funding/money was identified by 9% of teachers and 9% the public and ranked third for both groups.

The question:

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

IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

Zero Tolerance Policies
Most teachers (93%) and members of the public (90%) would favor a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol in their local public schools. Slightly fewer teachers (5%) than members of the public (10%) oppose such a strategy for school improvement.

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?

STANDARDS

On questions about standards, teachers and the public appear to agree. A series of three questions asked about the quality of student achievement standards in local public schools, social promotion, and the high school curriculum. In answer to the first question, a majority of teachers (63%) and the public (57%) say student achievement standards in their public schools are about right. Slightly fewer teachers (29%) than members of the public (33%) think they are too low. About equal numbers of teachers (8%) and the public (6%) believe they are too high.

The first question:

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

Regarding the second question, teachers (76%) and the public (72%) favor stricter standards for promoting students from grade to grade. But more members of the public (26%) than teachers (15%) oppose such standards if it means that significantly more students would be held back. More teachers (9%) than members of the public (2%) are undecided about this question.

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?

In answer to the third question, most teachers (73%) and members of the public (78%) favor requiring high school students to take a standardized core curriculum. Slightly more members of the public (21%) than teachers (17%) oppose such a requirement. More teachers (10%) than members of the public (1%) are also undecided about this question.

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?

INSTRUCTIONAL ISSUES

Teachers and the public agree about what values should be taught in the public schools in their communities. Teaching honesty, acceptance of people of different races and ethnic backgrounds, and democracy rank high for both groups. Interestingly, far fewer teachers than members of the public believe values related to sexuality should be taught in the public schools: 45% of teachers and 68% of the public say sexual abstinence outside of marriage should be taught; 35% of teachers and 55% of the public agree that acceptance of people with different sexual orientations should be taught; and 16% of teachers and 48% of the public believe acceptance of a woman's right to choose an abortion should be taught.

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.

Not only do teachers and the public disagree on how to measure students' academic progress, teachers disagree among themselves on two methods: using examples of student work and using test scores. Whereas 66% of teachers with a bachelor's degree favor using examples of a student's work, 57% of teachers with a master's degree or higher do so. Of those teachers who favor using test scores, 21% of teachers with a master's degree or higher do so, whereas 7% of teachers with a bachelor's degree favor this method.

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?

PUBLIC SCHOOL ALTERNATIVES

Public/Private School Relationship
About 30% fewer teachers than members of the public favor three public school alternatives presented in the series of questions that follow. Whereas the public appears to be somewhat divided on these alternatives, most teachers are opposed.

Fewer teachers (13%) than members of the public (41%) favor allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense. This difference is very similar to the one in 1998, when teachers were first asked this trend question. Slightly more teachers this year (82%) than last year (78%) are opposed to this option, and slightly fewer teachers this year (5%) than last year (8%) are undecided.

The first question:

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

When teachers and the public are asked if they would favor or oppose a proposal that the government pay all or part of the tuition of any public, private, or church-related school parents choose, only 16% of teachers favor such a proposal, whereas 51% of the public does so.

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?

Vouchers
Most teachers (76%) oppose a voucher system wherein parents are given a voucher that can be used to pay all of the tuition for a private or church-related school. The public is more evenly divided on this question, with 47% favoring it and 48% opposing it.

The third 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?

Home Schooling
There is disagreement between teachers and the public about making public school services available to home-schooled children. Teachers and the public agree that special education courses should be made available, but 32% more members of the public (92%) than teachers (60%) favor this arrangement. Only 48% of teachers favor making development activities available to home-schooling teachers, while 80% of the public does so. Even fewer teachers (43%) favor making driver's education available, compared to 73% of the public; and just 42% of teachers favor opening extracurricular activities to home-schooled students, compared to 74% of the public.

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?

Most teachers (94%) and members of the public (92%) favor requiring home-schooled children to take all the state and national assessment tests that public school students are required to take.

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?

TREND QUESTION ABOUT DISCIPLINE

Over a 15-year period from 1984 to 1999, teachers' perceptions about discipline problems in their public schools have not changed. This year, 13% say discipline is a very serious problem, compared to 11% in 1989 and 16% in 1984. The greatest majority of teachers (44%) say it is not too serious.

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?

ENDNOTES

1. Other questions and responses from the sixth Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools are reported in the April 2000 Phi Delta Kappan.