Urban Dwellers on Urban Schools

Abstract

THE ANNUAL Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll findings are based on a sample of approximately 1,000. The reports of those findings focus on total responses, with little attention given to the demographic groups sampled. This emphasis can be attributed to lack of space and to the reduced reliability associated with small samples. That said, we feel that demographic breakouts, if handled properly, will inform and extend total group responses. With this in mind and, given heightened concern about urban schools, we set out in this column to compare the responses of urban dwellers with those of the total group. We sought to address the reliability issue by limiting our analysis primarily to questions that appeared in each of the last three polls. We summed and averaged results over the three polls. The same was done for total group responses. We also decided to turn to a survey conducted by the Global Strategy Group for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform to draw benchmark comparisons. That survey concentrated on urban dwellers and was designed specifically to provide a detailed account of opinion toward urban public schools, along with an assessment of attitudes regarding the role of the school district in reforming public education. Problems Facing the Public Schools The prospect of finding a significant difference between the ways urban dwellers and the total group view urban school problems was disspelled with the first question. When given the opportunity to indicate the biggest problem facing the public schools, the total group and urban dwellers responded as detailed in Table 1. Small differences can be observed, with urban dwellers a little more intense in their feelings toward the lack of financial support. The rank order of items varies slightly, but the inescapable conclusion is that there is little difference between the two groups. Probing further into the groups' attitudes toward problems, the PDK/Gallup poll asked respondents how seriously they regarded four of the problems mentioned in the 2002 poll. Here, differences between the total group and urban dwellers surfaced. In the total group, 76% said discipline is a very or somewhat serious problem, as compared to 86% of urban dwellers. In an even greater difference, only 63% of the total group said fighting/violence/gangs is a problem; 79% of urban dwellers did so. Regarding overcrowding, the difference narrowed, with 71% of the total group saying it is very or somewhat serious, as compared to 79% of urban dwellers; for difficulty in getting good teachers, the gap narrowed to 74% for the total group and 78% for urban dwellers. The differences are in the intensity of views held. The Annenberg survey results seem to confirm and add additional meaning to the PDK/Gallup data. That survey did not give respondents an open- ended question. Instead, it asked them to prioritize a list of school district functions and to do the same for a list indicating possible obstacles to school success. Lack of funds was the top obstacle identified (chosen by 83%). The school district functions given top priority and the percentages of respondents who identified them as high priorities were: Ensuring that: All schools have highly qualified teachers 89% Students are taught challenging materials 88% Schools are free of violence and bullying 88% Schools are in good physical condition 87% Students have access to the best teachers 86% Assessing the Public Schools Regarding the grading of schools, the differences between the total group and the urban dwellers in the PDK/Gallup Poll are significant, with 49% of the total group giving community schools an A or a B, as compared to 38% of urban dwellers. …