Public Perceptions of School to Work: Baseline Results. Arizona School to Work Briefing Paper #2.

In spring 1996, a statewide public poll was conducted to establish baseline measures of public attitudes toward school to work (STW) prior to its widespread implementation in Arizona schools. A total of 2,788 Arizonans participated in this initial STW poll representing 750 parents, 750 businesses, and 1.288 educators (557 teachers, 549 principals, and 182 superintendents). Findings indicated that, although 83 percent of administrators had heard something about STW, more than half of the teachers and 7 of 10 parents and businesses had heard nothing. The vast majority of parents, businesses, and teachers were not aware that they were included in a local partnership; over one-third of administrators were similarly unaware. Ratings indicated that more than half of all educators felt that public education was either good or excellent, whereas fewer than half of parents and businesses rated education as good or better. Most respondents indicated a need for school to change and clearly preferred a more comprehensive approach to education. All constituent groups were uniformly high in terms of their support for all five proposed changes that could result from STW. With regard to specific attitudes toward STW, most respondents agreed with positively phrased statements and disagreed with negatively phrased statements. Nearly 80 percent of each group supported or strongly supported the initiative, whereas about 1 of 10 were either opposed to it or undecided. (YLB)