Far too often, throughout our work in the education field, we've seen even the most earnest and promising ideas from experts and reformers for improving schools and ramping up student learning met with confusion, anxiety or even anger from teachers, parents, students or community members.

The guest list for a community conversation in Coolidge, Arizona two weeks ago included small business owners, faculty and administration of colleges and universities, students, K-12 teachers and principals, representatives from local community-based organizations and even the chief of police. It was an impressively diverse group gathering to talk to about how to improve the success and completion rates of college and university students in their community.

Engaging the public in a genuine and robust manner will be central to moving our nation forward in these challenging times. Last week we described the first of the ten core principles that undergird our public engagement work. This week we bring you two more, both of which speak directly to the frustrations of the public in this moment:

Our system is broken. While our leaders bicker about inconsequential issues and refuse to have constructive dialogue about the important ones, the voice of the average American is lost entirely.

We are swiftly approaching the heart of another election cycle, and the town halls and open forums have begun. If past election seasons are any guide, at best these will be genuine, though inept attempts at including the public's voice. At worst, they will be a calculated farce.

College completion can be a precarious path for many students, especially those enrolled in community college. Students need support to succeed, and providing this support is the aim of Completion by Design.

What does "FAFSA" mean to you?

There's good news this week on getting more young people through high school – and bad news on getting them beyond it.

New York and Los Angeles are moving ahead with plans to use standardized testing designed to grade teachers as well as students. In Public Agenda's research, we've found that it isn't so much that teachers don't think tests can play a role in grading teachers – but they do say other ideas are more effective.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is calling its new major survey of the public and college presidents "A Crisis of Confidence," but Public Agenda co-founder Daniel Yankelovich has a different take. He argues that data shows more complacency among college presidents than crisis.