THE COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION POLL
For Immediate Release, February 24, 2000

Conducted for the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
By the Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory

Center for Public Policy
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA 23284

Contact: Dr. William Bosher, Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, 225-3290
Dr. Robert Holsworth, Center for Public Policy, 828-8033

Virginians generally agree on the purposes of public education and are mildly positive about the direction that public schools in the Commonwealth have moved during the last five years. Virginians are most positive about the steps that the schools have taken“to provide the skills needed to keep up with the new computer technologies. ” The public is least positive about the schools’ success in “teaching basic values such as honesty and respect for others.” African-Americans tend to be more positive than whites about the direction in which the Virginia public schools have moved during the past five years. These are the findings of the Commonwealth Education Poll, a survey of 867 adult Virginians conducted for the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University by VCU’s Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory.

Public Consensus on Basic Educational Purposes

The survey indicates that there is widespread consensus among Virginians regarding the basic purposes of the public schools. 98% of the respondents said that it is “very important” for the public schools to be “teaching the basics such as reading, writing and mathematics.” 87% of the respondents said that it was “very important” for the public schools to provide skills that will be useful in obtaining a job; 86% said that is “very important” for the schools to “teach basic values” and 80% said that it was “very important” for the public schools to provide skills “needed to keep up with new computer technologies.”

Dr. William Bosher, Director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, noted “it is significant that so many Virginians agree on the basic purposes of the public school system. This broad public consensus enables us to focus attention on what is truly important.”

Are the Public Schools in Virginia Getting Better or Worse?

Overall, 25% of the respondents believe that the public schools in Virginia have gotten better during the past five years compared to 21% who believe that the schools have gotten worse. 30% of the respondents believe that the public schools have basically stayed the same and the remainder did not offer an opinion. 63% of the respondents believe that the public schools are doing a better job providing the skills to keep up with new computer technologies compared to 3% who believe that the schools are doing worse than five years ago. By a 41%-19% margin, respondents believe that Virginia is getting better rather than worse in keeping schools safe so that students can learn. And by a 33%-14% margin, respondents believe that the public schools are doing better rather than worse in teaching the basics such as reading, writing, and mathematics.

Respondents were least positive in assessing the public schools’ performance in teaching basic values such as honesty and respect for others. 23% of the respondents believe that the schools are doing a better job than they were five years ago but the same percentage (23%) of respondents felt that the schools are doing a worse job. Dr. Robert Holsworth noted “the survey’s findings in this regard are consistent with national data that show continuing public concern about the moral fabric of our society.”

Respondents who have children in the schools were more favorable than respondents who do not about the direction that the public schools are moving. 30% of the respondents who have children in the schools thought that the public schools have gotten better during the past five years compared to 23% of the respondents who do not have children in the schools.

African-American respondents were more positive than whites about the direction in which the public schools are moving. 36% of African-American respondents thought that the public schools in Virginia were doing better in the past five years compared to 22% of white respondents. African-American respondents were also more positive about the direction that the schools were moving when asked about individual education functions. The only exception to the higher ratings given by African-American respondents was in regard to the question of how well the schools were doing in keeping children off drugs and alcohol- 31% of white respondents believe that the schools are doing a better job compared to 28% of African-American respondents.

Higher Ratings for Schools in the Respondents’ Own Communities

In general, familiarity with the schools resulted in greater support for the direction in which public education is moving. Respondents rated the direction that the schools in their own community were moving more positively than they rated the statewide direction. 33% of the respondents said that schools in their own community had gotten better during the past five years compared to 25% of the respondents who said that the public schools in Virginia had gotten better. 59% of the respondents said that the public schools in their community provide an excellent or good education and 78% of the respondents said that the schools in their own community provide a safe environment for children. Dr. Bosher commented that “a majority of individuals across all demographic groups believe that the schools in their own community are performing relatively well.”

Teacher Salaries, Parental Responsibility and Involvement, Authority and Discipline

83% of the respondents agreed with the statement, “teachers should be paid more.” 10% of the respondents disagreed.

74% of the respondents agreed with the statement, “schools need to spend too much time dealing with issues that parents should be taking care of at home.” 17% of the respondents disagreed.

54% of the respondents agreed with the statement, “schools do a good job keeping in touch with parents” and 29% disagreed.

Respondents were almost evenly divided, however, in their reaction to the statement, “principals and teachers have enough authority to enforce discipline and good behavior in the classroom.” 45% of the respondents agreed with the statement and 48% disagreed. There were notable age and racial divides on this question. A majority of people under 45 (51%) and a majority of blacks (61%) agreed that principals and teachers have enough authority to enforce discipline while a majority of people over 45 (55%) and a majority of whites (52%) disagreed with the statement.

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METHODOLOGY OF THE COMMONWEALTH POLL

Interviewing for the Commonwealth Poll was conducted from the facilities of the Survey Research Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond January 5-19, 2000, with a randomly-selected sample of 867 adult Virginians aged 18 and older. The sample of telephone numbers was prepared by Genesys Sampling Systems of Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania, and was designed so that all residential telephones including new and unlisted numbers, had a known chance of inclusion. Interviews were obtained with respondents in 49% of the known or assumed residential households in the sample. The data were weighted on sex, race, education, and region of residence so as to reflect the demographic composition of the Virginia Adult population. Percentages reported in the text and tables are weighted, while the number of cases shown in the tables for various subgroups is the actual number of respondents. Questions answered by the sample of 867 adults are subject to a sampling error of plus or minus approximately 4 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. This means that in 95 out of 100 samples like the one used here the results obtained should be no more than 5 percentage points above or below the figure that would be obtained by interviewing all likely voters with telephones. Where the answers of subgroups are reported, the sampling error would be higher. Because of non-response (refusals to participate, etc.), standard calculations of sampling error are apt to understate the actual extent to which survey results are at variance with the true population values. Surveys are also subject to errors from sources other than sampling. Readers making use of the results are urged to be mindful of the errors inherent in survey research.

Questions reported in the release were worded as follows: We would like to ask you about a number of goals that some people believe the public schools should be achieving. For each one, please tell me whether you think it is very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not important at all for the public schools to pursue this goal…providing skills that will be useful in obtaining a job…, teaching basic values such as honesty and respect for others…, providing the skills needed to keep up with new computer technologies…, teaching students to be good citizens and responsible members of their communities…, teaching the basics such as reading, writing, and mathematics…, teaching about the rest of the world and the global economy of the 21st Century…, teaching reasoning and thinking skills that are important for advanced education and the workplace….In general, would you say that the public schools in Virginia have gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed the same during the past five years? Next we would like to ask you whether you think that the public schools in Virginia have gotten better, gotten worse or stayed the same during the past five years in the following specific areas…. Providing skills in obtaining a job…, teaching basic values such as honesty and respect for others…, providing the skills needed to keep up with new computer technologies…, teaching students to be good citizens and responsible members of their communities…, teaching the basics such as reading, writing and mathematics…, teaching about the rest of the world and the global economy of the 21st Century…, keeping students off drugs and alcohol…, involving parents in the education of their children…, keeping the schools safe so that students can learn…, we would like you to answer the next few questions thinking about the public schools in your community…. Have the public schools in your community gotten better, gotten worse or stayed the same during the past five years…. Thinking about the public schools in your community, would you say that they provide an excellent, a good, a fair or a poor education?….. Do you think that the public schools in your community provide a safe environment for children? I am going to read you a number of statements about the public schools in Virginia. Please tell me whether you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with each statement: In general, principals and teachers have enough authority to enforce discipline and good behavior in the classroom…, the schools need to spend to much time dealing with issues that the parents should have taken care of at home…, the schools do a good job keeping in touch with parents about their children’s progress or problems…, in general, teachers should be paid more money than they are today.