By the Numbers

Support for Standards

73% of superintendents say
    having timely student test data can
    improve education leadership

39% of parents say schools are
    not getting enough money
    to do a good job

BACKING A CANDIDATE

Superintendents were asked: Suppose you were voting in a local school
board election. Which of the following candidates would you be most
likely to support?

A candidate who believes:

If the public school finally got more money and
smaller classes, they could do a better job.          85%

That charter schools revitalize public education,
and we need more of them                               1%

School vouchers give parents the power to choose
the best school for their children                     2%

More testing and higher standards will ensure
kids will master the skills they need.                 7%

TESTING AMOUNT

Would you say that students are required to take too many standardized
tests, too few, or about the right amount?

                    TEACHERS      PARENTS      SUPERINTENDENTS

Too many               71%          17%               59%
Too few                 1%          10%                1%
About right            27%          54%               39%

HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAMS

Before students were awarded a high school
diploma would you want your district to require
students to:

Take a basic test                                     52%
Take a more challenging test                          27%
Take no test                                          18%
Don't know                                             3%

PARENTS & TESTS

Parents were asked which comes closest to
their views about standardized tests:

Are necessary and valuable                            48%

Are a necessary evil                                  37%
Do much more harm
than good                                             12%
Don't know                                             3%

Source: Public Agenda, Reality Check 2006: Is Support for Standards
and Testing Fading? …