The Public speaks

The current issue of Phi Delta Kappan contains their annual national poll on education issues. Several items struck me as worth noting.

Do you think high-achieving high school students should be recruited to become teachers? (76%, yes)

Well, of course.  Who wouldn’t want some of our smartest students to go into the teaching profession? But I think it’s worth noting that ‘high-achieving’ isn’t clearly defined. I suppose by that we mean good grades and/or high test scores, which measure a rather narrow spectrum of intelligence and potential. But we can’t overlook two important attributes that may not show up in test scores: the desire to be a teacher, and the ability to connect with other people. I know a lot of smart people who wouldn’t be particularly good teachers.

Is the ability to teach more a function of natural ability, or college training? (70%, natural ability)

The public may be right about this, but they shouldn’t be.  I expect that in the experience of most people, the handful of really good teachers were ‘naturals’. But that doesn’t mean that good teaching can’t be taught and developed – which is what happens in good schools.  In fact, we had better figure out how to do this because there aren’t enough ‘naturals’ to go around.

Should education policies require teachers to follow a prescribed curriculum … or give teachers flexibility to teach in ways they think best?

Nearly 75% of the public believes that it’s important to give teachers flexibility. Someone should tell the politicians and policy-makers who appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

By a 52 to 44% margin, the public sides with teachers’ unions over governors who have actively opposed them - even though 47% see unions as hurting the quality of public education. I suspect the public sees this as an issue of fairness and views these governors as bullies.

How important do you think these factors should be in determining a teacher’s salary?  Strongly agree: academic degree, 38%; experience, 38%; student test scores, 29%; principal evaluation, 38%.

Again, I think the public has it about right. But I would feel better about rewarding experience if I had more confidence that every teacher had sufficient opportunities for collaboration and meaningful professional development. I would feel better about principal evaluations if all principals were required to demonstrate their ability to recognize and evaluate good teaching, and I would feel a lot better about test scores if those tests actually measured something useful.

91% of the public believes it is very (61%) or somewhat important that we provide internet access to all students in school. 95% believe it is very (70%) or somewhat important that all students have access to computer technology. 74% believe that schools should invest more in computer technology.

Wow.

Another area in which I agree with the public’s perception: schools are not doing a very good job of teaching financial management skills.

51% of respondents give their local school an A or B. If they have a child in school, that number goes to 79% - yet only 17% give those grades to schools overall.

What’s interesting is that the public understands the reason for this discrepancy: people tend to know a lot more about their immediate community and local schools. It probably also says something about the preponderance of negative press and political rhetoric that education, in general, receives.

I’m going to report this finding without comment: 69% give teachers in their local school an A or B (up from 50% in 1984), but only 36% give local parents an A or B.

Finally, a finding that I’ve talked about a lot lately: only 34% (and going down) of respondents favor allowing parents to choose a private school at public expense. How is this issue still alive in Harrisburg?