Questionnaire and Topline Results from a National Poll of an Urban Population for the National School Boards Foundation Hello, my name is ___ and I am an interviewer with Belden Opinion Research. We are conducting a public opinion survey. May I please speak to the person 18 years old or older in your household who had a birthday most recently? Your telephone number was selected at random. We are not selling anything and all answers are completely confidential. (IF NECESSARY ARRANGE FOR A CALL BACK AND RECORD DATE AND TIME. REPEAT INTRO. AS NECESSARY) 1. What do you think is the biggest issue facing your community today? Crime and drugs, the economy and jobs, education, or the quality of the environment? CRIME AND DRUGS-— 52%Please tell me how good a job you think each of the following is doing. If you don't know enough about any of them, just say so. First would you say that ________ is [are] doing an excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor job? [ROTATE 2-6] Exclnt2. your local government 3%3. the public school board where you live 6%4. the teachers in public schools in your community 13%5. principals in public schools in your community 10%6. the superintendent of public schools in your community 7%7. Now I have some more questions about public schools. What grade would you give the PUBLIC SCHOOLS in your community? A, B, C, D, or F? AHow good a job do you feel YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS are doing at __________________? An excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor job? [ROTATE 8-22] Exclnt8. hiring and keeping high quality teachers 8%9. hiring and keeping high quality principals in the schools 8%10. hiring and keeping a high quality superintendent 7%11. maintaining discipline among students 5%12. keeping violence and drugs out of schools 6%13. maintaining high academic standards for all students14. teaching children the essential subjects like reading, writing, and basic math 11%15. teaching students the kinds of skills they will need in the workplace 7%16. preparing students for college 8%17. getting parents involved in meaningful ways with their children's education 9%18. providing enough up-to-date textbooks 6%19. teaching computer skills 12%20. maintaining school buildings in clean and safe condition 12%21. keeping class size small enough 5%22. teaching children who don't speak English when they first come to school 6%23. Do you think this statement is true or false: In the community where you live, children in WEALTHY neighborhoods have better public schools than children in LOW-INCOME neighborhoods. Do you feel it is very (true/false) or somewhat so? VERY TRUE-— 34%24. Do you feel that in the STATE where you live students in URBAN areas have the better public schools, that students in the SUBURBAN areas and SMALL TOWNS have better schools, or that there is the same quality of public schools in urban and non-urban areas? URBAN BETTER-— 14%25. Do you feel that where you live, in the public school system WHITE students have advantages that minority students don't have, or MINORITIES have advantages whites don't have, or that minorities and whites have the same advantages in your local public schools? WHITE ADVANTAGED-— 17%26. Do you feel the people and businesses from the community where you live are adequately involved with public schools, or that the schools have too little support from the larger community around them? ADEQUATELY INVOLVED-— 32%27. Do you happen to know the name of the superintendent of public schools in the community where you live? YES-— 27%28. Who makes most of the policies that determine how your local public schools are run: the superintendent of schools, principals, the school board, the teachers, the city or county government, the governor or someone else? [MULTIPLE RESPONSE OK] SUPERINTENDENT-— 17%29. In your opinion, who SHOULD make the policies for the schools: the superintendent of schools, principals, the school board, the teachers, the city or county government, the governor or someone else? [MULTIPLE RESPONSE OK] SUPERINTENDENT-— 20%30. Is there a school board in your community as far as you know? YES-— 78%31. In your opinion, is the school board in your community too powerful, not powerful enough, or does it have the right amount of power and influence? TOO POWERFUL-— 14%32. As far as you know are the school board members where you live ELECTED by the voters, or are they APPOINTED by other officials, or do you not know? ELECTED-— 58%Here is a list of ideas that SOME people have suggested would help students learn more in public schools. I'd like you to consider your own local schools. Think of a scale, where ZERO means something would not be at all effective, five would mean it would be SOMEWHAT effective, and ten means it would be EXTREMELY effective in really increasing how much students learn. First how would you rate ____________ in terms of how effective it would be in increasing students' learning? Remember you can pick ANY number, so please consider ALL the numbers -- zero, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. [ROTATE 33-47] % saying 1033. Sending teachers to get more training every few years so they keep their skills up to date 52%34. Hiring more teachers and reducing class size in the public schools 48%35. Holding teachers accountable for student learning, and rewarding them with more pay and seniority when their students do well 37%36. Putting more computers and computer- trained teachers into the public schools 45%37. Providing students more up-to-date textbooks 45%38. Providing more materials and supplies for classes and labs 42%39. Requiring parents to meet with their children's teachers twice a year at times convenient for the parents' schedules 57%40. Giving parents specific guidelines about how to become involved in their children's homework 49%41. Raising academic standards in public schools, that is continuing to make the curriculum tougher and insisting that children meet high academic standards 40%42. Bringing more discipline and safety into the schools 53%43. Teaching respect for racial, ethnic and social diversity 51%44. Building more school buildings 28%45. Improving the existing school buildings so they are clean and safe 38%46. Providing summer school, after-school programs, and tutoring to students who are behind academically 54%47. Getting business people more involved as volunteers and mentors 34%48. Have you attended a school board meeting to try to get something SPECIFIC accomplished in the last five years? YES49. Have you attended a school board meeting on any other occasion just for general information in the last five years? YES50. Do you happen to know the names of any local school board members where you live? YES51. Are you currently registered to vote? YES52. When it comes to elections for United States Congress, how often do you vote: Every time, most of the time, in about half the elections, or less? EVERY TIME53. Do you recall if you have ever voted in an election for a local school board in the city or community where you live or were living? YES54. How often do you vote in school board elections? Every time, most of the time, in about half the school board elections, or less? EVERY TIMENow I have a few questions to help us classify your questionnaire. D1. Do you have any children under 18? YESD2. Do you have any children over 18? YESD3. Do they now or did any of them attend public school? IF YES, ASK: Now or in the past? YES NOWD4. Are you now or were you active in the PTA? IF YES, ASK: Now or in the past? ACTIVE NOWD5. Do you now or have you in the past volunteered in the public schools? YESD6. Are you now or have you ever been an employee of a school or school district? IF YES, ASK: Now or in the past? YES NOWD7. Was that as a teacher, principal, administrator or superintendent, clerical or service personnel, or something else? TEACHERD8. In what year were you born? 19_______ DON'T KNOW REFUSE D9. IF REFUSE, ASK: ARE YOU 18-24D10. Are you currently employed, unemployed but looking for a job, retired, a student, a homemaker, or something else? (IF MORE THAN ONE ASK:) How do you spend most of your time? EMPLOYEDD11. Are you in private business for yourself or do you work in a business or corporation? YESD12. Are you married, divorced, separated, widowed, or single that is, never been married? MARRIEDD13. What was the last grade of school you completed? (READ CODES IF NECESSARY) LESS THAN HS GRADD14. Would you say you are white, black or African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, or something else? WHITED15. Stop me when I come to the category in which your total HOUSEHOLD INCOME fell before taxes in 1997. IF DON'T KNOW, ASK: Your best estimate is fine. Less than $15,000 Those are all my questions. I wonder if I may have your initials in case my supervisor wants to verify my work? Thank you very much for your help. Good night/day.
Belden Russonello & Stewart
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