What the public thinks about standards, tests and the purpose of a public education.

1. College- and career-ready graduates
What the public thinks about standards, tests and the
purpose of a public education
September 2016

2. Gauging Americans’ views on public education
American high schools were traditionally structured to prepare graduates for either college or
jobs. But over the last two decades, the mission for public schools has shifted from an either/or
approach to both/and.
Most states have shown their commitment to this mission by adopting college- and career-ready
(CCR) standards. Districts are now undertaking the hard work to implement them – a job that can
only succeed with the support of the community. Understanding where they stand in regard to
the CCR agenda is the vital first step.
In the following pages, we provide some insight by examining national public opinion polls on
education. What we find is that the public often conflates the goal of college- and career-
readiness with their views on the Common Core and standardized testing, clouding what could
otherwise be strong support for CCR.
School leaders looking to make the shift should query their own community so they can better
understand their hopes and concerns. The questions that follow could be a good place to begin.

3. Americans differ over the main goal of public
education
33
17 18
12
8 8
prepare students
academically
prepare them for work prepare them to be good
citizens
Percent of public
strongly somewhat
Question: What do
you think should be
the main goal of a
public school
education?
SOURCE: PDK, 2016
45
25
26

4. But they show more agreement about what the
content of that education should be
42
48 45
35
52
40
37
37
41
38
to think critically with factual
information in
each subject
to be good
citizens
to work in
groups
with good work
habits
Percent of public
extremely very
Question: How
important do you
think it is for schools
to prepare students …
SOURCE: PDK, 2016
82 82
76
85
90

5. Parents overwhelmingly see that today’s high
school graduates need a different preparation
62
34
4
Percent of parents
very different somewhat different the same
Question: Compared
to 20 years ago, what
a student needs to
learn in high school
today is …
SOURCE: Achieve, Inc. 2015

6. Parents view real-world learning opportunities as
a key part of preparing students for success
15
20
21
29
32
34
38
42
50
encourage highest math/science
parent involvement
communicate with parents
extra help for struggling students
access to AP/IB
challenging standards
individual guidance
engaging curriculum
real-world learning
Percent of parents
Question: which 2 or 3
of these are most
important to ensure
that students are well-
prepared for college
or work?
SOURCE: Achieve, Inc. 2015

7. Most public school parents also support raising
expectations for students
31 32
27
38
29
29
higher academic standards require 4 yrs math,
including Alg II
require biology, chemistry,
physics
Percent of parents
help a great deal help some
Question: what
impact would [this]
have on your child’s
preparedness for
success at work or
college after high
school?
SOURCE: Achieve, Inc., 2015
69
61
56

8. Teachers rank critical thinking first among college-
and career-ready characteristics
8
41
50
59
62
78
score proficient on [CCR] test
pass [college prep] sequence
have independent study skills
complete career program with work
opportunity
ready for post-secondary courses without
remediation
have critical thinking skills
Percent of teachers
Question: choose 3
items from list that
you think are the most
important for college-
and career-readiness.
SOURCE: CTA/Ed Source survey, 2015. Survey of
California teachers.

9. Main takeaways
• There is no public consensus on public education’s main goal. A
plurality thinks it should be academic preparation, but there is strong
support for preparing workers and good citizens, too.
• Even so, there’s fairly strong agreement on the importance of high
standards and expectations for students, regardless of their after
high school goals.
• The public and educators place particular emphasis on critical
thinking as important for today’s graduates.
• The public, educators and parents further value real-world learning
opportunities and high-level content.

10. What’s in a name?
“Common core” vs. “college- and career-ready” branding
yields different reactions

11. Support for Common Core has fallen from high to
lukewarm in four years
90
87
50
44
general public teachers
Percent of …
2012 2016
Question: States have
been deciding
whether to use the
Common Core,
standards that are the
same across states.
Do you support the
use of the Common
Core in your state?
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

12. The idea of common standards doesn’t lose
support as much as the name “Common Core”
92
6766
50
general public teachers
Percent of …
2012 2016
Question: States have
been deciding
whether to use
standards that are the
same across states.
Do you support the
use of these standards
in your state?
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

13. African Americans, Hispanics and Democrats are
more likely to support Common Core standards
54
46
39 35
48
23
29 48 53 32
22 24
13 12
19
African
Americans
Hispanics Whites Republicans Democrats
Percent of …
support oppose neither
Question: States have
been deciding
whether to use the
Common Core,
standards that are the
same across states.
Do you support the
use of the Common
Core in your state?
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016

14. A majority of all groups support “common
standards”
54 58 54 52 58
12
19 32 34 24
33
23
13 13 18
African
Americans
Hispanics Whites Republicans Democrats
Percent of …
support oppose neither
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016
Question: States have
been deciding
whether to use
standards that are the
same across states.
Do you support the
use of these standards
in your state?

15. Misconceptions about Common Core are
widespread and cross party lines
41
46
48
55
47
41
43 4445
40
37
43
sex education evolution global warming American
revolution
Percent saying ‘yes’
Democrat Republican Independent
15SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015
Question: Is this topic
included in the
Common Core?
Note: None of these
topics appears in the
standards.

16. The more individuals had heard about Common
Core, the more likely they were to be wrong
25
44
18
49
26
56
a lot nothing
Percent who were right about all 4 topics
Democrat Republican Independent
16SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015
Question: How much
have you heard about
the Common Core?

17. Parents have conflicting views about new
standards and their impact on students
45
40
47
5151
32
21
8
27
31
35
new standards amount of learning academic challenge standardized
testing
Percent of public school parents
better/increase worse/decrease no effect
17SOURCE: PDK, 2016
Questions: is the
change in standards
better or worse?
Have the new
standards increased,
decreased or had no
effect on …?

18. Main takeaways
• Support for the Common Core was once high, but has plummeted in
the last four years, especially among teachers. Parents find the new
standards more challenging, but aren’t convinced the change is
better. This suggests that problems with implementation and testing
may be the issue.
• The Common Core has also become highly politicized, and support
differs by race and party affiliation. Yet the public overall supports
the idea of common standards across the states.
• Controversy about the Common Core won’t necessarily spill over to
college- and career-readiness as long as teachers and parents are on
board with the change.

19. Public opinion and tests
Ambivalence about the role of assessment in public schools

20. The public and parents support yearly testing;
teachers, less so
69 66
49
20 24
46
11 8
5
general public parents teachers
Percent of…
support oppose neither
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016
Question: do you
support the federal
government’s
requirement to test all
students in math and
reading in grades 3-8
and once in high
school?

21. Support for testing is strongest among Hispanics
and Democrats
67
75 69 66 72
16
13 21 23 17
16 12 10 10 11
African
American
Hispanic White Republicans Democrats
Percent of…
support oppose neither
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016
Question: do you
support the federal
government’s
requirement to test all
students in math and
reading in grades 3-8
and once in high
school?

22. The public does not support “opting out” of tests;
parents and teachers aren’t as sure
26
37 39
60
49
52
15 13 8
general public parents teachers
Percent of…
support oppose neither
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016
Question: do you
support letting
parents decide
whether to have their
children take state
math and reading
tests?

23. Opinions on “opt outs” vary somewhat by race,
but not by political affiliation
31 32
23 27 25
47
54
63 60 62
22
15 13 14 14
African
American
Hispanic White Republicans Democrats
Percent of…
support oppose neither
SOURCE: Education Next, 2016
Question: do you
support letting
parents decide
whether to have their
children take state
math and reading
tests?

24. While the public sees a place for tests, most also
believe they receive too much emphasis
64
57 60 65 60
71
7
9
13 5
8
4
19 25 16 20 21
16
10 9 11 10 11 9
nation Afr.Am. Hisp. White Rep.
Percent of…
too much emphasis not enough right amount don't know
Dem.
SOURCE: PDK/Gallup, 2015
Question: is there too
much emphasis on
standardized testing
in public schools, not
enough emphasis, or
about the right
amount?

25. Main takeaways
• Public opinion about college- and career-readiness seems to be
conflated with feelings about standardized tests and the
politics around Common Core.
• There is majority support for standardized testing, but most
also think they are currently over-emphasized.
• Engaging the community’s support for CCR depends on
understanding their concerns and disentangling the goal from
the tests so together you can focus on how to prepare all your
students for success after high school.

26. References
• Achieve, Inc., Rising to the challenge: Views on high school graduates’ preparedness,
2015. www.achieve.org
• Fairleigh Dickinson University, Public Mind Poll, Common Core Misconceptions,
February 2015. http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2015/commoncore/
• PDK Poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools, September 2016, and
Critical issues in public education: The 2016 Phi Delta Kappa Survey, Topline report,
August 2016. http://pdkpoll2015.pdkintl.org/
• Peterson, Paul, Henderson, West and Barrows, Ten-year trends in public opinion
from the EdNext poll, August 2016 and Education Next, Program of education policy
and governance, Survey 2016, www.educationnext.org
• The 47th annual PDK/Gallup poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools,
September 2015 http://pdkpoll2015.pdkintl.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/pdkpoll47_2015.pdf
• EdSource/CTE survey of teachers, September 2015.
https://edsource.org/2015/college-and-career-readiness-an-edsourcecta-survey-of-
teachers/88053