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

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.

Americans differ over the main goal of public education Question: What do you think should be the main goal of a public school education? SOURCE: PDK,

But they show more agreement about what the content of that education should be Question: How important do you think it is for schools to prepare students … SOURCE: PDK,

Parents overwhelmingly see that today’s high school graduates need a different preparation Question: Compared to 20 years ago, what a student needs to learn in high school today is … SOURCE: Achieve, Inc. 2015

Parents view real-world learning opportunities as a key part of preparing students for success 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

Most public school parents also support raising expectations for students Question: what impact would [this] have on your child’s preparedness for success at work or college after high school? SOURCE: Achieve, Inc.,

Teachers rank critical thinking first among college- and career-ready characteristics Question: choose 3 items from list that you think are the most important for college- and career-readiness. SOURCE: CTA/Ed Source survey, Survey of California teachers.

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.

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

Support for Common Core has fallen from high to lukewarm in four years 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

The idea of common standards doesn’t lose support as much as the name “Common Core” 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

African Americans, Hispanics and Democrats are more likely to support Common Core standards 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

A majority of all groups support “common standards” 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?

Misconceptions about Common Core are widespread and cross party lines 15 SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015 Question: Is this topic included in the Common Core? Note: None of these topics appears in the standards.

The more individuals had heard about Common Core, the more likely they were to be wrong 16 SOURCE: Farleigh Dickinson University, Feb 2015 Question: How much have you heard about the Common Core?

Parents have conflicting views about new standards and their impact on students 17 SOURCE: PDK, 2016 Questions: is the change in standards better or worse? Have the new standards increased, decreased or had no effect on …?

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.

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

The public and parents support yearly testing; teachers, less so 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?

Support for testing is strongest among Hispanics and Democrats 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?

The public does not support “opting out” of tests; parents and teachers aren’t as sure SOURCE: Education Next, 2016 Question: do you support letting parents decide whether to have their children take state math and reading tests?

Opinions on “opt outs” vary somewhat by race, but not by political affiliation SOURCE: Education Next, 2016 Question: do you support letting parents decide whether to have their children take state math and reading tests?

While the public sees a place for tests, most also believe they receive too much emphasis SOURCE: PDK/Gallup, 2015 Question: is there too much emphasis on standardized testing in public schools, not enough emphasis, or about the right amount?

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.

References Achieve, Inc., Rising to the challenge: Views on high school graduates’ preparedness, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Public Mind Poll, Common Core Misconceptions, February 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 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, The 47 th annual PDK/Gallup poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools, September content/uploads/2015/10/pdkpoll47_2015.pdfhttp://pdkpoll2015.pdkintl.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/10/pdkpoll47_2015.pdf EdSource/CTE survey of teachers, September teachers/ teachers/88053