Citizens Survey Of Indiana Education

Author : Jonathan A. Plucker
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (16 download)

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Download or read book 2006 Public Opinion Survey on Education in Indiana written by Jonathan A. Plucker and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2006 Public Opinion Survey on Education in Indiana gauged the attitudes and perceptions of a representative sample of Hoosiers on such key educational issues as kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs, No Child Left Behind and P.L. 221, school funding and taxes, teacher quality, school choice and charter schools, and the achievement gap in the state. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University Bloomington has conducted the Public Opinion Survey on Education in Indiana. The responses came from a representative survey sample of 612 adult residents including both parents and non-parents. The survey found that, as a whole, Hoosiers continue to hold positive attitudes about public K-12 schools, but non-whites were more likely than whites to give unfavorable ratings. Furthermore, citizens from southern Indiana held the most favorable opinion of the overall quality of schools in Indiana. School funding was an issue for many respondents, but a new question containing information on per-pupil expenditures resulted in lower numbers of residents indicating that funding levels were too low. A total of 82% of respondents in 2006 stated that they would support state funding for voluntary pre-school for at-risk children, compared to 78% in 2005. Concerning kindergarten issues, 75% of citizens supported mandatory kindergarten attendance for students, down from 83% in 2005. Closing the achievement gap is a priority for Hoosiers: 94 percent of respondents indicated that this issue has at least some importance, surpassing the national Gallup / Phi Delta Kappa Poll result of 88 percent. For those 32% expressing positive comments about the direction of public education in their community during the past five years the most frequently cited reasons were better curriculum, more programs, increased competition and more emphasis on results, new or improved facilities and equipment, computers in schools, and teachers doing a better job in the classroom. Those who indicated that schools had declined over the last five years (15 percent) cited an insufficient emphasis on education and students not learning enough, fewer teachers and larger classes, poor discipline and classroom management, inadequate teacher performance and a decline in teacher commitment, and reduced funding for schools. This report contains four chapters: (I) Introduction; (II) Methodology; (III) Summary of Key Findings: and (IV) Detailed Results, comprising: (A) Overall Evaluation of Schools; (B) School Funding; (C) Early Childhood Education Initiatives; (D) ISTEP+ and Standards; (E) School Choice and Charter Schools; (F) High Quality Teachers; (G) No Child Left Behind Act and PL 221; and (H) Achievement Gap in Indiana. Appendix A presents Summary Tables for Open-ended Question 3B; and Appendix B presents Demographic Results by Question.