Are college and universities doing all they can to keep costs under control? According to a report from Public Agenda and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, six out of ten Americans believe that colleges mainly care about their own bottom lines instead of making sure that students have a good educational experience.
Research Studies: Education
- National Education Reports |
- State & Local Education Reports |
- Higher Education Reports |
- Additional Education Reports
Squeeze Play 2010: Continued Public Anxiety On Cost, Harsher Judgments On How Colleges Are Run
Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y
Research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates examining the views of Generation Y teachers shows that 71 percent are open to financial incentives for teachers who consistently work harder and put in more time and effort, with 25 percent "strongly" favoring such measures.
At the same time, only ten percent say student performance on standardized tests would be an "excellent" measure of teacher success.
Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today
Two out of five of American K-12 teachers appear disheartened and disappointed about their jobs, according to Public Agenda's Teaching for a Living study, conducted with Learning Point Associates and released in association with Education Week.
Just Waiting to Be Asked?: A Fresh Look at Attitudes on Public Engagement
School district leaders say they are eager for public engagement in educational decision making, but the venue they rely on most -- the school board meeting -- is primarily seen as a vehicle for the most vocal and disgruntled citizens. In this report, teachers, of all the groups surveyed, feel the most ignored. Parents and the public would like to see more community involvement, but two-thirds say they're comfortable leaving decisions to the professionals.
Public Engagement in Education:
Commissioned by the Ford Foundation, this paper defines public engagement and outlines the successful strategies for involving citizens: how to get beyond the "usual suspects, how to ensure civil but candid discussions, and how to develop action plans. Includes five case histories of communities from Maine to California.
Summing It Up: A Review of Survey Data on Education and the National Education Goals
Conducted at the request of the National Education Goals Panel, this study analyzes recent public opinion research on education and the public schools, reviewing surveys conducted by a variety of respected national organizations. A special attempt has been made to locate and analyze recent opinion data on the eight national goals. Available on The National Education Goals Panel Web site at http://www.negp.gov or call 202-724-0015.
Good News, Bad News: What People Really Think About the Education Press
The role the media play in shaping perceptions of the public schools is a recurring theme in the ongoing debate over the quality of public education. Prepared for the Education Writers Association, this study explores the attitudes of the general public, parents with children in public schools, educators, and education reporters and editors, toward media coverage of education. 1997.
Americans' Views on Standards: An Assessment by Public Agenda
This report provides an in-depth review of Americans' attitudes about raising and enforcing higher academic standards in public schools. This assessment draws from Public Agenda's extensive archive of public opinion research on education as well as from research prepared by other prominent opinion analysts. 1996.
The Basics: Parents Talk About Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and the Schools
Based on ten focus groups around the country with parents of public school children, the public's concern with the basics is explored. The report includes what the public means by 'the basics' and why they are considered to be so important. 1995.
Professional Development for Teachers: The Public's View
Based on a series of focus group discussions, this pilot study looks at public attitudes toward teachers' professional development. 1995.
The Public's Capacity for Deliberation:
Based on seven citizen discussion groups held across the country on education, this study explores the capacity of diverse groups of citizens to come together, consider an issue and work through alternative choices for solving it. 1995.
Accomplishing Reform with Public Engagement: A Map of the Process
Prepared in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation, this map helps citizens and community groups who want to undertake reform but believe the public should or needs to be their partner if real change is to occur. Roadblocks a community might encounter are flagged. 1995.
Effective Public Engagement:
Americans views toward proposals to set higher academic standards for students is explored. 1993. Available from the National Center on Education and the Economy, 202-783-3668. $5.00 for New Standards partners; $25.00 for non-partners.
Math Leads the Way: Perspectives on Math Reform
This report looks at the views of math educators and other education professionals on math reform. Included is an examination of attitudes that could derail efforts to reform math education. 1993.
Educational Reform: The Players and the Politics
This study examines education stakeholders' views on the goals of education and the present performance of schools. 1992.
Crosstalk: The Public, the Experts, and Competitiveness
Public attitudes about competitiveness, education, and technology in the workplace are explored. The report identifies serious gaps in perspective between leaders and the general public. 1991.
Is there evidence that teacher "talent" (“performance”, “intellect”, “motivation” or whatever vague metric you want to use) has declined or become more erratically distributed over the last century? Would providing teachers incomes that are a significant percentage of the incomes of Wall Street traders make a difference to student learning? While the Education profession has not attracted the best and the brightest in the population it is not clear to me that programs that seek to do so or at least financially reward “talent” will make a difference. Could it be that the failures of American Education are more the result of changes in American society? In the 1950s and 1960, for example, when America was striving to compete with the USSR militarily, technologically, scientifically and culturally intellectual interest in each of these areas was encouraged and funded. Kids were given chemistry, electronic and erector sets as toys not Legos and action computer games with mindless themes. I remember going to the chemical supply houses to buy chemicals, glassware (beakers, test tubes, flasks, etc.) and other equipment to conduct experiments as well as making bombs for which nowadays a kid would be put in prison. Bill Hewlett of Hewlett Packard grew up doing the same thing including making rockets. The shift from a manufacturing economy to a consumer economy paralleled a shift in status from what you invented, were interested in or made to what you consume. As kids have become the targets of all manner of consumer goods companies their intellectual interests have been subverted or perverted. Distractions have multiplied. For example, cell phones, Twitter and FaceBook are not only bottomless distractions that can consume a kid’s waking hours they are addictions that impede successful Education. Nel Noddings, the philosopher of Education (and education) points out that kids need caring to learn and develop as moral human beings yet that is precisely what American society based as it is on corrosive individualism, social Darwinism and market fundamentalism discounts.