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Students' Public Education Must Even the Odds
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 WASHINGTON
-- May 16, 2001- Americans increasingly believe teacher quality
is the central factor in school improvement and have come to a clear
agreement about major steps necessary to improve teaching, student
learning, and school performance, according to an extensive national
poll released today by Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. (RNT) and public
opinion analyst Louis Harris.
As a measure to lift student achievement, 89 percent of Americans
rate ensuring a well-qualified teacher in every classroom as "very
important." Teacher quality now rates in a statistical dead
heat with school safety (90 percent) as the key factor to boosting
academic performance. In addition, teacher quality outpolls other
improvement strategies by wide margins. Roughly eight in 10 Americans
agree strongly that a "high national priority" should
be placed on recruiting and preparing teachers who can deliver a
quality education.
The new report, The Essential Profession: American Education at
the Crossroads, comes at a time when President Bush and Congress
are weighing far-reaching new federal education initiatives. It
shows that Americans' views toward education have crystallized around
some core beliefs about the importance of public education, teacher
quality, and the most promising paths toward school improvement.
"Survey after survey has shown that Americans rate education
as a top concern. This study goes a step further to find out what
exactly that means in terms of the public's school reform priorities,"
said RNT President David Haselkorn, coauthor of the report. "The
findings suggest a powerful new educational consensus has emerged:
teacher quality is the heart of the matter."
The Most Promising Path to Better Schools
In the public's estimation the quality teacher agenda surpasses
all other reform strategies tested in terms of its ability to lift
student achievement and make the nation's schools what they need
to be. Ensuring quality teachers in every classroom was favored
by a two-to-one margin over establishing a system of academic standards
to be met by all students and by a six-to-one margin over establishing
achievement tests in core academic subjects. Similarly, when offered
the choice of doing what it takes to put a fully qualified teacher
in every classroom against creating more competition for public
schools by either giving parents vouchers for private school tuition
or by creating more independent charter schools, teacher quality
is favored by more than six-to-one.
"The public has no doubt about what matters most in school
reform," said coauthor Louis Harris. "Putting a qualified
teacher in every classroom outpolls every other strategy. The American
people believe the job can and will be done in the public schools.
And if they perceive other strategies will drain funds from these
efforts, the American people will reject them."
The Teacher Quality Gap
Although a majority of Americans rate teachers in their own communities
as "well qualified," a third believe most teachers nationally
are "just minimally qualified." And less than a third
of all Americans strongly agree that teacher licensing requirements
in their state "guarantee that teachers really know how to
teach." Only a quarter strongly agree that their local school
district always hires fully qualified teachers. A comparable percentage
(24 percent) believes the problem of incompetent teachers to be
"very serious and widespread" nationwide, and an even
higher one third of the nation's blacks and Latinos feel this way.
And fully eight in 10 Americans feel that parents should receive
specific information about the qualifications of their child's teacher
at the beginning of the school year.
Schools Seen as Addressing Key Problems
Americans feel better about their public schools today than three
years ago, when Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. conducted a similar
national poll. While still majorities in some cases, fewer Americans
identify issues such as drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, poor
basic skills, or antiquated technology as "very serious and
widespread." Meanwhile, the American public roundly rejects
the odious myth of the bell curve and the tyranny of low expectations
it represents. Today, 87 percent of Americans believe that most
children are capable of learning demanding subject matter, up 17
points from 70 percent just 2 years ago. By a six-to-one majority,
Americans believe that student academic performance is more strongly
influenced by hard work than natural ability (72 percent vs. 12
percent).
Indeed, the poll shows that commitment to public education is a
bedrock belief among Americans, with 97 percent of the national
cross-section in favor of maintaining its guarantee for every child.
Unequal Opportunities to Achieve
While Americans' belief in public education is unequivocal - nearly
everyone favors maintaining the guarantee of free public schools
- their faith that the nation is delivering on its promise is diminishing.
Only 28 percent of the American public agree strongly that the same
educational opportunities are available to minority and nonminority
children alike nationwide, a statistic that is 6 percent lower than
the comparable response in 1998. Meanwhile, only 19 percent nationwide
agree strongly that the same educational opportunities are available
to children in poor and affluent communities.
To remedy such perceived disparities eight in 10 Americans agree
strongly that all children, including those who are economically
disadvantaged, should have teachers who are fully qualified even
if that means spending more money to achieve. A similar margin,
81 percent, says America must give a high national priority to recruiting
and preparing such teachers.
Only slightly fewer Americans (77 percent) believe that "we
must give a high national priority to developing the professional
skills and knowledge of teachers throughout their careers,"
to help their students learn demanding subjects. And roughly six
in 10 Americans back lengthening the school year by two weeks to
give teachers more time for planning and consultation.
"The report shows that the public understands the link between
high-quality teachers and improved student learning," said
Kerry Killinger, chairman, president and CEO of Washington Mutual,
which helped fund the report.
A Bolder Teacher Recruitment and Quality Agenda Supported
Perhaps influenced by these beliefs about teacher competence and
equity, Americans expressed significant and increasing support for
bold proposals to address teacher quality and recruitment concerns.
More than nine in 10 favor so-called induction programs matching
new teachers with successful veteran mentors. Three quarters or
more support attracting new teachers from other fields, providing
tax credits and forgiving student loans to teachers who work in
high-poverty schools, and easing pension and seniority portability.
The public also strongly favors by a nine-to-one majority the establishment
of a central clearinghouse where people interested in teaching can
find jobs anywhere in the country and where school districts can
look nationwide to find qualified teachers (89 percent in favor;
9 percent opposed).
At the same time the public strongly rejects shortcuts and quick
fixes that put unqualified individuals in teaching positions. For
example, 75 percent of Americans oppose licensing individuals with
a B.A. but no teacher preparation. And 82 percent oppose lowering
state standards to meet the nation's teacher recruitment challenges.
Indeed, 76 percent of the American public favor strengthening teacher
licensing standards. A higher 88 percent would seek to eliminate
the practice of hiring unqualified teachers altogether.
Money Matters
Americans understand the connection between teacher quality and
teacher salaries. More than four in 10 believe teachers nationally
and in their own communities are "inadequately paid,"
half again as many felt that way three years ago. Another third
believe teachers are "just adequately paid." To meet the
hiring challenge, nearly nine in 10 Americans (88%) favor raising
teacher salaries, up ten points since 1998.
More than eight in 10 Americans would encourage a family member
to teach if the salary was at least $60,000 per year, and about
six in 10 said they would consider teaching themselves for that
salary. Money matters, the study concludes. Teaching's intrinsic
call to service still attracts many to the profession, but the American
people believe teaching should not have to be pursued as a philanthropic
act.
More than eight in 10 Americans said they would pay $10 a year
more in taxes to help even the disparity between the salaries of
teachers and the significantly higher pay of professionals in other
fields with similar levels of education. The compensation gap between
the average teacher with a master's degree and the average non-teaching
professional is $32,000 a year, for example.
Americans have a consistent and informed view of what they should
be paying for when it comes to teacher quality. Roughly nine in
10 rated four qualifications as "very important" - classroom
management, thorough subject matter knowledge, understanding of
how children learn, and a solid background in effective teaching
methods.
Accountability: A Key Factor in Ensuring Teacher Quality
The public believes that incompetent teachers should be dealt with
fairly, but firmly: three in every four believe that such teachers
should be given more training and opportunities to improve rather
than being summarily dismissed. However, fully 85 percent of the
public also feel that teachers provided such additional training
and development who continue to miss the mark should then be removed.
The public's strong conviction that top national priority must
be given to achieving "a fully qualified teacher in every classroom"
has an important corollary, the report notes. It is the firm conviction
that unqualified teachers can no longer be tolerated and that the
practice of hiring unqualified teachers is indefensible. "In
the judgment of the American people, this is what accountability
should be all about," Harris said.
Power to Change
The focus on education that dominated many of last fall's political
campaigns, including the presidential contest, paid off in an unexpected
way. While the federal government provides only about 7 percent
of the total spending on elementary and secondary education, roughly
half of Americans said that Congress and the President have "a
great deal of power" in improving public education, ranking
them slightly ahead of state legislatures, governors, and local
school boards.
The Essential Profession: American Education at the Crossroads
summarizes the findings of a comprehensive study designed to gauge
Americans' attitudes about teaching, educational opportunity, and
school reform. In all, cross-sections of 2,501 adults were surveyed.
A cross-section of 1,500 adults nationwide was surveyed in late
August and early September 2000, while a cross-section of 1,001
adults was surveyed in California in September 2000. Both studies
employed probability methodologies that ensured that each household
sampled had an equal chance of being represented in the final sample.
Callbacks were made to attempt to realize completion of the random
sample as drawn. The sampling error for the study is plus or minus
2 percent in 95 out of 100 cases.
Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization
formed in 1986 to raise esteem for teaching, expand the pool of
prospective teachers, and improve the nation's teacher recruitment
and development policies and practices. Based in Belmont, Mass.,
RNT pursues its goals through innovative public service outreach;
action-oriented research; local, state, and national advocacy; networking;
technical assistance; and national conferences.
Funding for the study was provided by the Ford Foundation, which
invests in innovative people and organizations worldwide; and by
Washington Mutual, a financial services company with a history dating
back to 1889, providing a diversified line of products and services
including consumer banking, mortgage lending and commercial banking,
with offices located nationwide. The company annually returns 2
percent of its pretax earnings to communities through grants, sponsorships
and other assistance, with an emphasis on improving K-12 public
education.
http://www.recruitingteachers.org/channels/clearinghouse/audience/media/1g14_media_pressrntpoll.htm
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