The Annual PDK poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools typically provides insights into how a limited number of Americans think about a limited number of issues in public education. This is the famous poll that reveals how Americans grade their own schools (with most parents giving their own schools As & Bs, just like their Members of Congress).
Across the country, however, there are much bigger issues than polls plaguing our schools. More than sixty percent of US students are not proficient in any core subject. As we ponder the PDK survey results, be sure to acknowledge that without great schools for all students.
THE 49TH ANNUAL PDK POLL IS BEING RELEASED AUGUST 28TH, 2017 AT 7PM. CER WILL OFFER A SPECIAL REPORT ANALYSES AT THAT TIME.
IN THE MEANTIME, HERE ARE SOME OF OUR ANALYSES FROM YEARS PAST.
2013 – Poorly Designed Survey Misrepresents Public’s True Attitudes on Education Reform
Phi Delta Kappa International, in conjunction with Gallup released their 45th annual poll for 2013 on “The Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.”
For years now, conductors of the PDK-Gallup poll have asked respondents an array of misleading questions, giving a false perception of how Americans view the many dimensions of public education.
Whereas other polls and surveys conducted over CER’s 20-year history demonstrate overwhelmingly positive support for programs that provide parents more choice and ensure schools are held to higher standards, PDK-Gallup polls have typically demonstrated lower support thresholds for the same programs.
So it came as no surprise that the 2013 PDK-Gallup poll again featured poorly designed questions, leading to a misrepresentation of how the public feels about school choice, charter schools and other issues related to education reform.
68 percent of those sampled favored the concept of charter schools, but other polls show even higher rates of support when respondents are given a full and accurate definition of how charters actually work.
Conversely, the poll recorded low support for school vouchers, which was likely to happen when respondents were asked the poorly crafted question: “Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?”
This supposed low support comes at a time when between 85-89% of black voters on recently released state polls overwhelmingly support school choice and why more states are answering the call for Parent Power through legislation.
As CER President Jeanne Allen pointed out in 2012, the phrase “at public expense” creates the illusion that parents seeking more and better opportunities for their children are not part of the “public.”
“Gallup asked if respondents favor parents being able to choose a private school ‘at public expense,’” Allen said.
“But parents who use scholarships to move a child from a public school (failing to meet their needs) to a private school (that will meet those needs) are certainly part of the ‘public!’ They are targeting funds designated to educate their child to a school that will actually do so.”
Here are a few highlights of CER’s Analysis of PDK from just this past decade:
2012 – CER analysis of PDK-Gallup poll:
2011 – PDK/Gallup Poll Call for Facts:
https://edreform.com/2012/01/2011-jeanne-allen-memo-pdk-gallup-poll/
2006 – CER WEIGHS IN ON PDK: WE’RE SORRY WHAT WAS THE QUESTION
https://edreform.com/2006/03/were-sorry-what-was-the-question/
2004 – PHI DELTA KAPPA/GALLUP ANNUAL EDUCATION POLL: SCHOOL CHOICE AGAIN FALLS VICTIM
2001 – ANTI-REFORM GROUP RELEASES ANNUAL EDUCATION POLL
Check out EdReform University’s library on Polls & Surveys for more information.
Making Waves
Education Next has a new report that details the positive role charter schools play in improving other public schools around them. The report compiled media accounts and school district initiatives that indicate traditional public school officials not only take notice of charter schools in their districts, but also become motivated to improve their own schools as a result.
This is a longstanding concept that echoes what CER has been saying all along about the lasting “ripple effect” that occurs as a result of introducing choice and competition to school districts. In 2007, award winning author and “Reformer Performer” Joe Williams collected stories from all 50 states that demonstrated the cause and effect relationship of introducing charter schools, and the steps taken by traditional public schools to keep up with the competition. For example, when San Carlos Learning Center in California soon became a model of success, schools nationwide soon adopted its learning techniques, including the very schools that had been railing against its opening. When a charter school for disabled students began to attract students on Long Island, NY, local schools responded by making available more resources for those students in need of them.
This past year, the Washington, DC public school system as a whole boasted the highest growth in reading and math proficiency since 2008 and 2009, respectively. The scores were part of a wider trend since 2007 that not only shows charter school students outperforming traditional public students, but also contributing to the overall improvement of DC Public Schools. DC Mayor Vincent Gray rightly viewed the 2013 DC-CAS scores as proof our nation’s capital is on the right track in transforming public education.
These anecdotes are not isolated incidents, and demonstrate the positive role charter schools play in shaking up the status quo and improving the educational landscape. We hope that these stories will serve as inspiration for more ripples that improve public education for students and parents.