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The 15th annual "Education Next" survey investigates how Americans are responding to the worst pandemic since the influenza pandemic of 1919. In the realm of education, a desire for sweeping reform might well be expected, given the pandemic's particularly severe toll on K-12 schooling. While few children suffered serious illnesses, the effects of the pandemic on the nation's youth were nonetheless dramatic. Schools across the country were shuttered for months, some for more than a year. State-mandated testing, a tool for holding schools accountable, was largely abandoned. Remote instruction, implemented under crisis conditions, failed to live up to the claims of virtual-learning enthusiasts. Learning loss was severe, especially among children from low-income families. According to parents, children's friendships and social ties suffered. Even their physical fitness was put at risk. Obesity, drug abuse, mental health challenges, and teenage suicides appeared to be on the rise. In desperation, some parents shifted their children from district schools to private schools, homeschooling, and other options that provided more in-person learning. The authors ask what is the state of public opinion as parents and school leaders nationwide transition back to in-person schooling? Is the public demanding innovation that can make up for educational losses over the past year? Or do people want a quiet return to the familiar? This survey is a continuation of Education Next's long-standing annual poll of public attitudes on education issues. This year, they interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,410 adults. The survey repeats many questions asked in past surveys, making it possible to see how the pandemic has affected public opinion. As in previous years, the survey contains a number of experiments in which the sample is split into two or three groups at random and then each group is asked a variation on the same question. These experiments allow the researchers to gauge how different question wordings and the provision of additional information affect participants' responses.

The 15th annual "Education Next" survey, conducted in June 2021, yields a host of specific results that reveal one large fact about the current state of public opinion on American education: The public is cautious--extremely cautious. In the presence of a still-circulating COVID-19 virus, a large percentage of parents and the broader public want schools to take strong measures to keep children safe as they return to school. Yet many parents are not ready to risk the injection of a COVID vaccine into their child's arm, even as government agencies testify to its safety and effectiveness. In this article, the authors report on the 2021 follow-up survey to polls of parents of school-age children that was administered in May and November 2020, enabling them to track children's schooling experiences over the course of the pandemic. In late May and June, the authors interviewed a representative sample of 2,022 parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade. Every parent then answered a series of questions about each of their children. The survey oversampled Black and Hispanic parents, as well as parents with children in private and charter schools, which allows more-precise comparisons between racial and ethnic groups and between school sectors.

The 2020 Education Next Survey reveals a paradox related to what American parents think about the quality of the instruction their children received after schools closed their doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parents of a substantial majority of school-aged children--71%--think their kids learned less than they would have in school. At the same time, parents of 72% of children say they are satisfied with the instruction and activities provided by schools during the closure. What experiences account for these seemingly contradictory opinions? And how did those experiences vary across social groups and the nation's district, charter, and private school sectors? Since schools closed, commentators have used a variety of methods to understand the likely implications of this episode for student learning and what it bodes for the future, from analyzing school districts' remote-learning plans to tracking reports of homeschooling on social media. Yet there is a lack of a thorough and systematic picture of what American families experienced during the pandemic. New data from the 14th annual Education Next public-opinion survey can help to close this gap. The survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 1,249 parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade whose schools closed during the pandemic, including oversamples of parents who identify as Hispanic and parents who identify as Black. These parents answered questions about each of their children whose school closed, including 2,147 children in total. Data was also gathered from a nationally representative sample of 490 K-12 teachers whose schools closed because of the pandemic, enabling the authors to compare what parents reported receiving to what teachers said they delivered.

President Joe Biden has made reopening a majority of K-8 schools for in-person instruction a priority for his administration's first 100 days, with the goal of getting more American students safely back into the classroom. Yet neither information gathered so far by researchers, nor data reported by the federal government and the states, can say where the nation stands with respect to that goal. Nearly halfway through the 2020-21 school year, it is unknown how American schools have adapted amid the pandemic--and what American families are experiencing as a result. In November and December 2020, the authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,155 American parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade, including oversamples of parents who identify as Hispanic and parents who identify as Black. They also oversampled parents with children in private and charter schools, making it possible to compare their experiences with those making use of the traditional district sector. Each parent surveyed answered questions about the schooling experiences of each of their children in kindergarten through 12th grade, including 3,762 children in total. They also asked them a set of questions about schools and school policies in the United States in order to see if those experiences have altered parents' views (see sidebar Gauging the Pandemic's Effects on Parental Opinion). The data reveals that more than half of U.S. students are receiving instruction entirely remotely this school year, while 28% of students receive instruction that is fully in person. Of the 19% of students in hybrid models, in-person instruction varies from one to five days a week. The parents of most students remain broadly satisfied with the instruction and activities available from their children's schools, yet the parents of 60% of students report that their child is learning less than would be the case absent the pandemic. Satisfaction levels are highest--and reports of learning loss least common--for students attending school in person. The hybrid model appears to offer no advantage over fully remote instruction. The authors document large differences across sectors in the frequency of in-person instruction. Well over half of students enrolled in district and charter schools receive all their instruction fully remotely, while less than one quarter receive all of their instruction in person. The percentages are nearly reversed for children attending private schools: 60% receive instruction in person and just 18% receive their instruction remotely. They also provide the first evidence on the relationship between in-person instruction and the incidence of COVID. The availability and usage of in-person instruction is unrelated to COVID incidence at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, when most districts made their reopening plans. By November, however, students were most likely to be attending school fully in person in counties where the virus was spreading most rapidly.

For 14 years, the "Education Next" annual survey has tracked American opinion on education policy. This year's survey, administered in May 2020, provides an early look at how the experiences of the past few months as the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools nationwide may shape Americans' views on education policy going forward. The survey's nationally representative sample of 4,291 adults includes an oversampling of teachers and of those who identify themselves as Black and Hispanic and examines public opinion on issues at the core of education-policy debates as the U.S. heads into the height of the 2020 presidential campaign. The survey's top findings cover: (1) teacher pay; (2) school spending; (3) online education; (4) school choice; (5) opinion of public schools and teachers; (6) free college; and (7) populism and education policy.

Can information close socioeconomic gaps in parents' postsecondary aspirations for their children? We administer a survey experiment to a nationally representative sample of U.S. parents, who are also asked whether their child is academically prepared for college. We inquire whether parents prefer their child to pursue a four-year degree, two-year degree, or no further education. Some parents are also randomly told the costs of college for an individual in their state and income bracket; local labor-market returns to a degree; or both costs and returns. Information closes socioeconomic aspiration gaps only if parents believe their child is ready for college.

With the 2020 presidential election campaign now underway, education-policy proposals previously at the edge of the political debate are entering the mainstream. Support for increasing teacher pay is higher now than at any point since 2008, and a majority of the public favors more federal funding for local schools. Free college commands the support of three in five Americans. Support for school vouchers has shifted upward, and tax-credit scholarships along the lines proposed by the current administration now command the support of a sizable majority of adults. These are just a few of the findings of the 13th annual "Education Next" survey of public opinion, administered in May 2019. The poll's nationally representative sample of 3,046 adults includes an oversampling of teachers, African Americans, and those who identify themselves as Hispanic. This year, for the first time, the authors also surveyed a sample of 415 high-school students and their parents. On several issues, the analysis teases out nuances in public opinion by asking variations of questions to randomly selected segments of survey participants. The authors divided respondents at random into two or more segments and asked each group a different version of the same general question. For example, half of the respondents were told--but not the other half--how much the average teacher in their state is paid before asking whether salaries should increase, decrease, or remain about the same. By comparing the differences in the opinions of the two groups, the authors are able to estimate the extent to which relevant information influences public thinking on teacher pay. This essay reports and interprets the poll's major findings.

FOR 14 YEARS, THE EDUCATION NEXT ANNUAL SURVEY has tracked American opinion on education policy. We have gauged peoples views through the throes of the Great Recession, dramatic changes in [...]

WITH THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN NOW UNDERWAY, education-policy proposals previously at the edge of the political debate are entering the mainstream. On the Republican side, the Trump administration has [...]

The year 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the "Education Next" poll on K-12 education policy, offering "Education Next" the opportunity to take a retrospective look at public opinion on this vital topic. In 8 of the past 10 years, "Education Next" has also surveyed teachers on the subject and has seen some interesting differences between the thinking of these educators and the public at large. This year, given that public opinion on many national issues is riven by partisan disparities, the authors compare and contrast the views of Republicans and Democrats. On many topics, the authors find that opinion has remained consistent over the past 10 years. The authors write that they see only slight changes in people's views on the quality of the nation's schools, for instance, or on federally mandated testing, charter schools, tax credits to support private school choice, merit pay for teachers, or the effects of teachers unions. But on other issues, opinions have changed significantly. Support for the Common Core State Standards has fallen to a new low in 2016. So has public backing for school vouchers--both those limited to low-income families and those made available to all families. Support for tenure has fallen, but approval for teacher salary hikes has climbed to levels not seen since the U.S. recession of 2008 among respondents not told about current salary levels. Over all, the authors present details of their seven main conclusions drawn from their multi year survey of public and teacher opinions on a broad range of educational issues.

In May and June 2015, the ninth annual "Education Next" survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of some 4,000 respondents, including oversamples of roughly 700 teachers, 700 African Americans, and 700 Hispanics. The 2015 survey posed many new questions exploring opinion on curricular and other issues that have never before been examined in a nationally representative survey of the American public. This article highlights four important findings yielded from the poll: (1) Support for standardized testing remains strong; (2) Support for the Common Core State Standards declined a bit further in 2015, after falling sharply between 2013 and 2014; (3) Union agency fees are not popular; and (4) A majority of people oppose the federal government's new policy on school discipline.

THERE'S NO DENYING POLITICAL CLIMATE CHANGE. The past 18 months have seen an enormous swing in the Washington power balance, a shift that has heightened the polarization that has characterized [...]

THE YEAR 2016 MARKS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY of the Education Next poll on K-12 education policy, offering us the opportunity to take a retrospective look at public opinion on this [...]

According to the three authors of this article, the 2014 "EdNext" poll yields four especially important new findings: (1) Opinion with respect to the Common Core has yet to coalesce. The idea of a common set of standards across the country has wide appeal, and the Common Core itself still commands the support of a majority of the public. Proponents probably need to clarify their intentions to the public if they are to keep support from slipping within both the nation's teaching force and the public at large. (2) Americans give good grades to about half the teaching force in their local district, but they hand out an unsatisfactory grade (D or F) to nearly one-fifth of the teachers. This may help explain why a majority of the public opposes teacher tenure. However, a majority of teachers favor tenure and, in general, teachers give their colleagues a higher grade than the public does. (3) In a quarter of households with school-age children, a child is attending or has attended a school other than the traditional public school. (4) Members of the public are less inclined to favor using additional funds for class-size reduction if they know its cost relative to the cost of teacher pay and the purchase of new books and technologies.

The Common Core State Standards initiative (CCSS) seeks to "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn" at various grade levels. For some education observers, CCSS will finally clarify for students, parents, and educators what students need to know and be able to do if they are to be prepared for college or a career. For others, CCSS interferes with local control of schools, limits teacher creativity, and diverts classroom time and energy away from instruction to test preparation. But as pundits and practitioners thrust and parry over these issues, they may be overlooking the potential impact of CCSS on public perceptions of school quality and public support for school reforms. Recently, the state of New York embraced CCSS, and in the process adopted a much higher definition of proficiency. When the new test results were released, the percentage of students identified as proficient in math dropped from 65 to 31, and in English from 55 to 31. The gap between white and minority students remained wide, as only 16 percent of black students and 18 percent of Hispanic students were deemed proficient in English. The results ignited debate in New York City's mayoral campaign, where candidates searched for ways to differentiate themselves from the Bloomberg administration's education agenda. Are the developments in New York unique to that state? Or is there reason to think that rigorous national standards, with accompanying measures of student performance, have the power to generate the political attention needed to refocus public opinion? To shed light on this topic, experimental results from the 2013 "Education Next" poll, which consists of a representative sample of the American public, and which was conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance, are evaluated in this article.

Voucher programs and their supporters have had a tough last few years. The Florida Supreme Court declared vouchers in that state unconstitutional in 2006. Three years later, the Arizona Supreme Court did the same. In 2007, voters in Utah handed a resounding defeat to a voucher program there. In 2009, the U.S. Congress refused to continue funding the federal voucher program in Washington, D.C., effectively killing the program in the nation's capital. The Louisiana legislature stood apart from this trend and in the summer of 2008 passed Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence, the state's first voucher program, specifically for New Orleans. In the fall, 870 students in kindergarten through 3rd grade whose families earned less than two and a half times the federal poverty level and who would otherwise attend some of the worst schools in the city received vouchers worth up to $6,000 to attend private schools of their choice. In this article, the author talks about the voucher program in New Orleans and describes how the legislation was passed. (Contains 2 figures.)

Convection does not affect the solidification of sill-like magma bodies, while gravity settling slightly modifies the intrusion of olivine in the bodies. The distribution and depth of olivine phenocrysts in the magma sills are determined to substantiate the insufficiency of convection and gravity in the settling of sills. However, sills can be formed from the intermittent introduction of magma materials allowing the continuous cooling, settling and accumulation of magma.

The article discusses the opinions of the U.S. public on the 2015 Education Next poll for determining the existing stand of the children and the schools. It sates that the supporters of the Common Core State Standards are against the the new method practiced by the U.S. Congress. The government's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was rewritten for students testing in order to collect the performance data of the teachers and the school including a change in the tenure, merit pays and tax credits.

The article discusses the findings of the seventh annual "Education Next Survey" conducted in the U.S. in 2013. Findings revealed little change in opinion on most of the education policy questions. Topics discussed include high support for Common Core standards, higher evaluations of local private schools, school service for more-talented students, support for pre-kindergarten spending and declining support for school spending and teacher pay.