Americans See Teacher Performance and Positive School Atmosphere as Keys to Improving Student Achievement in Public Schools

September 27, 2012

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The recent teachers’ strike in Chicago has brought to the forefront of public attention many issues related to American public schools, among them teacher evaluations, job security and benefits. In a survey conducted prior to the strike, majorities of Americans perceive recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers (72%) and a positive school atmosphere (64%) as very important for improving student achievement in public schools, while increasing students’ (49%), teachers’ (46%) and parents’ (43%) school satisfaction levels is also clearly important.

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But while attracting effective teachers is a concern across political and socioeconomic lines, there remain multiple points of dissent on the best practices for doing so, as well as what constitutes appropriate levels of teacher pay and school funding.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,311 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over) surveyed online between July 16 and 23, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

While stakeholders’ satisfaction with schools is clearly important to Americans, it resonates most strongly among those with lower levels of education and income:

Americans without college degrees (53%) are more likely than those with a degree (39%) to see increasing students’ satisfaction with their schools as very important; they are also more likely to rate parental satisfaction with their children’s schools as very important (47% and 33%, respectively).
Americans earning under $35,000 also place higher importance on school satisfaction than their counterparts, being more likely than those earning $35,000 or more to rate student (55% vs. 44%), teacher (52% vs. 43%) and parent (51% vs. 39%) satisfaction very important.

Teacher Recruitment and Retention

Given the clear importance in Americans’ minds of attracting and holding onto good teachers, another key area is how to best accomplish this. Overall, Americans most strongly support enabling schools to more easily remove those teachers not serving students well (73%) as one of the highest priorities in addressing this goal, along with basing teacher effectiveness measures largely on student growth (59%). Providing better professional development opportunities (55%) and improving job satisfaction (51%) for teachers are also seen as high priorities by many Americans, along with improving teachers’ bonuses and salaries (45%).

While all of the tested solutions were popular, presenting a situation in which only one could be funded brings viewpoints into sharper focus. Enabling schools to more easily remove teachers who are not serving students well (43%) is Americans’ top selection by a considerable margin, at roughly twice the level of the next strongest option (basing teacher effectiveness measurements on student growth, 21%). The perceived importance of increasing schools’ ability to remove ineffectual teachers does vary widely:

By age, its selection drops as low as 31% among echo boomers (ages 18-35) and rises as high as 61% among matures (ages 67+).
Democrats (33%) are significantly less likely to select this option than either Independents (45%) or Republicans (53%).
Parents (36%) are less likely to support this approach than those without children in grades K-12 (45%).

Teacher pay and overall funding in public schools

When asked about both teacher pay levels and overall spending on public schools in their communities, Americans most strongly perceive each as receiving too little money (46% teachers, 50% schools), followed – more distantly in the case of overall school funding – by about the right amount (33% and 27%, respectively). However, opinions again vary widely:

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to view both teacher pay (56% vs. 39%) and school funding (63% vs. 39%) as too low. Independents consistently fall between the two parties, though their responses on this matter skew closer to Republican viewpoints.
Parents (57%) are significantly more likely than adults without children in grades K-12 (48%) to rate overall school funding as too low.
Females are more likely than males to rate both teacher pay (52% vs. 40%) and school funding (54% vs. 46%) as too low.
Adults in the South are more likely than those in any other region to perceive teacher pay as too low (31% East, 43% Midwest, 57% South, 48% West).
The perception of teachers as under-paid (46%) is closer to its 1965 level (42%) than in either 2009 (54%) or 2008 (59%), though the perception of teachers as over-paid (12%) – while small – is at its highest point on record. The perception of schools as under-funded continues to be well above 1965 levels (50% 2012, 51% 2009, 57% 2008, 32% 1965).

So What?

Regarding satisfaction, Michelle Gosney, Sr. Research Manager for Harris Poll School Pulse, said, “Our Harris Poll School Pulse database of stakeholder satisfaction measurements from school districts across the U.S. indicates clear trends that more satisfied students display better behavior, higher engagement and stronger performance in school; satisfied teachers and staff are more motivated and productive; and happier parents are more supportive of the school.”

“Given the clear importance of a positive school environment,” adds Gosney, “measuring school climate, as well as analyzing, communicating, and acting on data are efforts educators can make to address these issues that a majority of Americans, especially those who are underserved and with higher needs, believe are important for improving student achievement.”

TABLE 1A
FACTORS IN IMPROVING PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
“Thinking about public school education in the United States, how important is each of the following for improving student achievement in America’s public schools (grades K-12)?”

Base: All adults

                      IMPORTANT Very Important Important NOT IMPORTANT Not that important    Not at all important
                        (NET)                            (NET)
                         ----                             ----
                   %      %           %             %          %               %
                  ---    ---         ---           ---        ---             ---
    Recruiting and
     retaining
     highly
     qualified
     teachers                    96             72        25             4                 3                      1
    --------------              ---            ---       ---           ---               ---                    ---
    A positive
     school
     atmosphere                  96             64        32             4                 3                      1
    -----------                 ---            ---       ---           ---               ---                    ---
    Increasing
     students'
     satisfaction
     with their
     school                      90             49        42            10                 7                      2
    -------------               ---            ---       ---           ---               ---                    ---
    Increasing
     teachers'
     satisfaction
     with their
     school                      90             46        44            10                 7                      3
    -------------               ---            ---       ---           ---               ---                    ---
    Increasing
     parents'
     satisfaction
     with their
     children's
     school                      89             43        46            11                 9                      2
    -------------               ---            ---       ---           ---               ---                    ---