Vol. 17, No. 21	Feb. 26, 1998

Survey says
 Citizens, educators share thoughts on state schools

The UD Delaware Education Research and Development Center and the Delaware Department of Education have conducted two polls-one of citizens and one of educators-on the condition of education in Delaware.

The researchers surveyed both groups about a number of ongoing and timely issues facing education in the state.

According to Paul LeMahieu, R&D Center director, who announced the results in a news conference last week, "The surveys confirm Delaware citizens' and educators' concern for their schools. They also give the state a unique capacity to know citizens' and educators' views on pressing issues such as school quality and finance, as well as efforts at improvements. In addition, the surveys explore timely issues such as school choice and accountability."

Public survey

According to the "1997 Public Poll on the Condition of Education in Delaware," approximately 85 percent of Delawareans believe that providing appropriate and high quality professional development for teachers will lead to improvement in all of Delaware's schools.

Accountability

When Delawareans were asked their views related to the educational accountability system, most citizens stated that students (82 percent) and parents (89 percent) should be held very much accountable for the academic achievement of students. They also stated that teachers (96 percent), principals (94 percent), local school board members (91 percent), district administrators (92 percent), the state Department of Education (92 percent), the secretary of education (93 percent) and the governor (86 percent) should be held at least somewhat accountable. In addition, many citizens said they believe that the state accountability system should serve multiple purposes.

Several purposes that are supported by most citizens include:

• to identify areas in which teachers needs to improve their teaching skills (88 percent);

• to identify areas in which student need extra help (88 percent);

• to indicate an individual student's progress (83 percent), a school's progress (84 percent) and a district's progress (85 percent) in relation the Delaware State Content Standards;

• to determine if a student graduates from high school (82 percent); and

• to determine if a student advances to the next grade level of schooling (75 percent).

• employers as a screening device for employment of students (47 percent);

• determining how much teachers should be paid in lieu of salary schedules (57 percent);

• determining if a student participates in extracurricular activities (57 percent);

• determining the level of funding each district should receive (57 percent); and

• appropriation of fines from parents of children who do not attend school (58 percent).

School Finance

According to the poll, Delawareans are not in favor of allowing school boards to raise or lower taxes without submitting the change to a public referendum vote even if the increase or decrease would account for changes in inflation (79 percent oppose), student enrollment (74 percent oppose), or property values (84 percent oppose). Less than half (42 percent) of those surveyed voted in the last school referendum in their community.

On the other hand, many (81 percent) are in favor of at least having a substantial portion of the lottery and casino proceeds in the state revenue fund earmarked specifically for education.

Student Discipline

Most citizens (85 percent) said they believe that discipline problems in the school are strongly related to a lack of discipline in the home. Half of the citizens (50 percent) believe that discipline problems in school are strongly related to the lack of active engagement in learning in classes.

Communication about schools

The poll revealed that while some citizens (43 percent) believe that they get enough information about public schools in their community, many feel they do not. Furthermore, the top three sources of information about public schools cited by the public were the newspaper (47 percent); school or district newsletter (30 percent); and friends, relatives and neighbors (25 percent). Most citizens (80 percent) anticipate that the "School Profiles" (school report card), which will be available to parents and community members, will be useful or very useful.

The telephone survey, conducted last summer, is the fourth in a program of annual polls designed to track the perceptions of Delaware's citizens regarding schools in the state.

Educators' survey

According to the "1997 Educator Poll on the Condition of Education in Delaware, " about 62 percent of Delaware educators believe that the Delaware Content Standards will lead to improvement in all of Delaware's schools.

Accountability

When Delaware educators were asked about their views related to the educational accountability system, most stated that students (86 percent) and parents (84 percent) should be held very much accountable for the academic achievement of students.

They also stated that teachers (98 percent), principals (98 percent), local school board members (94 percent), district administrators (99 percent), the state Department of Education (93 percent), the secretary of education (93 percent) and the governor (86 percent) should be held at least somewhat accountable.

In addition, many educators said they believe that the education accountability system should serve multiple purposes. Several purposes that are supported by most educators include:

• to identify areas in which students need extra help (93 percent);

• to determine if a student graduates from high school (89 percent);

• to indicate an individual student's progress (85 percent), a school's progress (79 percent) and a district's progress (87 percent) in relation the Delaware State Content Standards;

• to identify areas in which teachers need to improve their teaching skills (81 percent);

• to appropriate fines for parents for children who do not attend school (80 percent); and

• to determine if a student advances to the next grade level of schooling (77 percent).

• determining how much teachers should be paid in lieu of salary schedules (26 percent);

• determining the level of funding each district should receive (37 percent);

• determining whether a teacher's employment should be continued (38 percent);

• determining financial rewards for teachers (40 percent); and

• determining whether a state Board of Education member's appointment should be continued (40 percent).

School Finance

According to the poll, many educators are in favor of allowing school boards to raise or lower taxes without submitting the change to a public referendum vote if the increase or decrease would account for changes in inflation (67 percent) or student enrollment (67 percent).

Less than half (46 percent), however, are in favor of allowing school boards to raise or lower taxes without submitting the change to a public referendum vote if the increase or decrease would account for changes in property values.

On the other hand, many (78 percent) are in favor of at least having a substantial portion of the lottery and casino proceeds in the state revenue fund earmarked specifically for education.

Student Discipline

Most educators (95 percent) believe that discipline problems in the school are strongly related to a lack of discipline in the home. A majority of educators (61 percent) also believe that discipline problems in school are strongly related to the lack of active engagement in learning in classes.

The telephone survey, conducted last summer, is the second in a program of annual polls designed to track the perceptions of Delaware's educators regarding schools in the state.

The full texts of both reports are available from the Delaware Education Research and Development Center, 305 Willard Hall.

-Beth Thomas