This week’s evidence comes from the annual Phi Delta Kappan poll about education in America (https://pdkpoll.org/2024-poll-results/). Some key findings include:
1) Respondents strongly agree (more than 80%) that attracting and retaining teachers is an important goal, yet less than half of them would like their own children to become teachers. This is a significant drop from just a few years ago when more than 70% of respondents would be happy to have their children become teachers. The primary reason for a lack of support for the children of respondents becoming teachers is a lack of pay and benefits and a lack of classroom discipline.
2) There is strong support for federal funds going to education, with fewer than 10% wanting a decrease in federal support for education. Half of the respondents approve of former President Trump’s educational policy, despite Trump’s commitment to eliminate the US Department of Education.
3) A majority support the use of artificial intelligence, yet in a recent poll of teachers, 2/3rds of teachers oppose it.
4) Only 9% support involvement in education by attending a school board meeting, yet public comments in school board meetings dominate news coverage of local educational matters.
5) 70% said that support of public education will be important in casting their vote for President.
6) There is strong support for academic support for students who have fallen behind (90% of Black respondents and 67% of white respondents).
7) Broad support for supporting student mental health.
The most consistent finding for this poll, which has been conducted for more than 50 years, is that respondents are broadly satisfied with their own public schools. They donate time and money and are committed to supporting the schools their children attend. Nevertheless, other polls suggest that there is broad skepticism about the general public education system.
I can be reached at 781-710-9633 or douglas.reeves@creativeleadership.net, if you want to discuss this week’s research.