Unless school leaders do more to help teachers, students, parents, taxpayers, and other key groups understand the need for change and the key roles they can play, school improvement will be spotty and nearly impossible to sustain, writes Public Agenda senior fellow Jean Johnson. Citing multiple surveys of these groups conducted by Public Agenda,…

This report presents findings on a series of surveys conducted from 1998 through 2002. The findings: (1) Parents, teachers, and students believe that setting standards and enforcing them promotes learning; (2) standards and promotion policies have changed in recent years, and attitudes about local schools have improved; (3) the majority of parents…

The American Diploma Project, an influential consortium that includes Achieve, Inc., The Education Trust, and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation believes that expectations about what youngsters learn in high school must be raised dramatically. According to the group, "the diploma has lost its value because what it takes to earn one is disconnected…

This report examines students', teachers', and parents' reactions to standardized testing and whether the move to raise academic standards has improved the quality of college students and new employees. It is based on telephone interviews conducted in late 2001 with a national and random sample of 600 K-12 public-school teachers, 610 parents of…

This report examines students', teachers', and parents' reactions to standardized testing and whether the move to raise academic standards has improved the quality of college students and new employees. It is based on telephone interviews conducted in late 2000 with a national and random sample of public-school teachers, parents of public-school…

This report is the third in a series of "Reality Check" reports finds that five years into the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and over a dozen years into the so-called standards movement in American education, the public now sees these reforms as "necessary, but not sufficient." This is consistent across a…

This publication summarizes the main conclusions of a national survey of 925 public school principals and 1,006 superintendents. The survey was intended to bring about a better understanding of the day-to-day realities school leaders face. The survey asked the principals and superintendents about their priorities, most pressing problems, and…