Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Recent poll finds only 26% Say U.S. Public Schools Provide World-Class Education

My mom forwarded me a link to a report on a recent Rasmussen poll which found only 26% Say U.S. Public Schools Provide World-Class Education:

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However, only 26% believe U.S. public schools provide a world-class education. A majority (62%) does not think American public schooling provides that level of education, while another 12% are not sure.
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The snarky part of me thinks that 62% know about the problems with government schools in the United States and that the 26% are not very well informed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems many Americans are worried about American public schools, because, in 2012, about 70% percent of people did not have much faith in the public school system (“Confidence in Institutions”). What is causing this distrust? Perhaps it is due to the fact that bullying is such a problem (Middle-school teacher Interview). Or, maybe parents are worried that the large classes do not allow their children to learn at their own pace and in their own way (qtd. in United States 2; Kennedy, Banks, and Grandin, 140-1; Gardner, 6; Middle-school teacher Interview). But, most worrying are the test scores. There is a lower percentage of American students who get high math scores than that of similar countries (Hanushek, Peterson, and Woessmann, “U.S. Math Performance”, 4). Also, students are not raising their test scores as quickly as those in twenty-four other countries (Hanushek, Peterson, and Woessmann, “Achievement Growth”, vi). Equally problematic is the fact that only 2/3 of students stay in school for the entire amount of time that they should and do not drop out (Robinson Interview). It seems that parents are right to worry about the public schools. But, they should not give up on public schools as some imply (Nielsen, “End the Race to Nowhere”). Changes can be made.

“Confidence in Institutions.” Gallup. Gallup, Inc., 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. .
Gardner, Howard. “Multiple Intelligences: The First Thirty Years.” (2011): 6. PDF. 1 Apr. 2013. .
Hanushek, Eric A., Peterson, Paul E., and Woessmann, Ludger. “Achievement Growth: International and U.S. State Trends in Student Performance.” Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next Report No.: 12-03 (2012): vi. PDF. 1 Apr. 2013. .
---. “U.S. Math Performance in Global Perspective.” Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next Report No.: 10-19 (2010): 4. PDF. 1 Apr. 2013. .
Kennedy, Diane M. and Banks, Rebecca S. with Grandin, Temple. “Chapter 8: 2e Students and Education: Too Bright, Too Broken.” Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism: Why Twice-Exceptional Children Are Stuck and How to Help Them. San Francisco: Jossy-Bass, 2011. 140-1. Print.
Middle-school teacher. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2013.
Nielsen, Lisa. “End the Race to Nowhere: Fix the School, Not the Child: 20 Ideas for Parents Who Are Sick of Waiting for Superman and Tired of Having Their Children Race to Nowhere: It’s Time to Stop.” Scribd. Scribd Inc., Feb. 2011. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. .
Robinson, Ken. Interview with Mike Huckabee. Huckabee. FOX News. 31 Jan. 2009. Television. 23 Apr. 2013. .
United States. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics. Introduction. The Nation’s Report Card: Mega States: An Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation. Washington D.C.: n.p., Feb. 2013. 2. PDF file. 23 Apr. 2013. .

Henry Cate said...

Thanks for the summary of problems with public education along with the documentation.

For decades people have been trying to fix public education, but it only gets worse. I think many parents don't believe it will change fast enough to protect their children from suffering.

I think the right answer is to protect your children now by homeschooling them, and work to try and change the system.