Thoughts of Leaving: An Exploration of Why New York City Middle School Teachers Consider Leaving Their Classrooms

This report explores the conditions under which middle-school teachers in New York City leave their schools, and the consequences of this turnover. The focus on middle schools stems from the widely-held view that the middle grades are a critical turning point in the lives of children, and that many New York City school children lose academic momentum in these grades, setting them on trajectories of failure as they move towards high school and life beyond it. This report is based on a survey of more than 4,000 full-time middle school teachers working in 125 of the nearly 200 middle schools in New York City serving children in grades six through eight in the 2009-10 school year. The participating teachers reported whether they had considered leaving their current school or leaving teaching during that school year, and the reasons that they considered leaving. The report links their responses to teachers' reports about their own backgrounds and experiences, to the demographic characteristics of the schools in which they teach, and to the collective perceptions of all of the teachers in a school about that school as a workplace. This report is part of a three-year, mixed-methods study of teacher turnover in New York City middle schools

Americans Endorse Climate Change Education

Scientists and the international community agree: Climate change is a defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. Whether referred to as "global warming" or "climate change," these patterns have already had observable effects on our planet, including loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves. Education, from classrooms to boardrooms, is seen as a critical tool for boosting both resilience and the capacity to carry out the enormous social and technological changes necessary to cut risks as the human surge meets accelerating climate disruption. By engaging students with climate science, energy history and related subjects, schools can help young people grasp reality amid today’s noise and polarization, and shape academic, civic and career paths that can help build a climate-safe future. Public opinion polling on teaching about global warming and climate change is a relatively limited. This research brief examines Americans' views of teaching about global warming and climate change in primary and secondary schools. The brief provides detailed analysis by socio-demographic groups and open-ended reflection from respondents

The Public Matters: Technical Note

Citizen preferences play a key role in a democracy, and there is a substantial body of work that tries to understand the role that public preferences play in the policy process. Despite the important role public opinion plays, there are only limited efforts to document public opinion about education, psychology, and health. The Public Matters project seeks to address this gap by providing reliable, valid public opinion data to inform public debate. The Project includes a series of public opinion surveys on a variety of issues related to governance, policies, and practice that have the potential to affect human development

It Takes a Village: Americans' Views of Community Schools

Citizen preferences play a key role in a democracy, and there is a substantial body of work that tries to understand the role that public preferences play in the policy process. Despite the important role public opinion plays, there are only limited efforts to document public opinion about education, psychology, and health. The Public Mind project seeks to address this gap by providing reliable, valid public opinion data to inform public debate. The Project includes a series of public opinion surveys on a variety of issues related to governance, policies, and practice that have the potential to affect human development. This new survey indicates that the appetite for community schools is strong. The national survey of about 3,000 adults, released August 9th, 2018 shows that a majority of Americans approve of schools that offer integrated educational, social, health and community services to students and families

Americans’ Views of Higher Education as a Public and Private Good

Citizen preferences play a key role in a democracy, and there is a substantial body of work that tries to understand the role that public preferences play in the policy process. Despite the important role public opinion plays, there are only limited efforts to document public opinion about education, psychology, and health. The Public Mind project seeks to address this gap by providing reliable, valid public opinion data to inform public debate. The Project includes a series of public opinion surveys on a variety of issues related to governance, policies, and practice that have the potential to affect human development. This research brief extends our understanding of public views of American higher education. Since their inception, American universities and colleges have been charged both with enabling talented individuals to advance through higher education and with enhancing the quality of American life through scientific discoveries and the invigoration of the American economy. To what extent do Americans believe these promises have been met

Americans’ Views of Stakeholders in Education

Citizen preferences play a key role in a democracy, and there is a substantial body of work that tries to understand the role that public preferences play in the policy process. Despite the important role public opinion plays, there are only limited efforts to document public opinion about education, psychology, and health. The Public Mind project seeks to address this gap by providing reliable, valid public opinion data to inform public debate. The Project includes a series of public opinion surveys on a variety of issues related to governance, policies, and practice that have the potential to affect human development. This research brief examines Americans' views of stakeholders in education: parents, teachers, teacher unions, academic researchers, business leaders, and think tanks. Whereas in the past only elected officials were considered legitimate policy actors, today there are more groups of people competing to shape education policy. But we know very little about which stakeholders are seen as credible by the public, and why

Edu-Activism in the United States: Civic Participation on Educational Issues

Recently, there has been a resurgence of education activism in the United States. Media headlines suggest that citizens are raising their voices loudly and publicly to challenge various aspects of the education system. As we thought about instances of protest in education, as well as the role of edu-business, we wondered how the general public thinks about civic participation on educational issues, and how active individuals are in voicing their concerns. To address this question, we followed past research on civic engagement in the United States, and conducted a public opinion survey where respondents were asked about different forms of political and social action that they might take regarding education and schools. This survey paints a portrait of today’s education activists. It found that certain groups – liberals, women, blacks, college-educated, parents and young people – are more politically active than others around education issues

Pallas, Aaron M., Preparing Education Doctoral Students for Epistemological Diversity, Educational Researcher, 30(June/July, 2001), 6-11. See also related article by Harvey Siegel,Educational Researcher, 35(March, 2006), 3-12

Discusses the implications of epistemological diversity for the curriculum of preparing doctoral students in education in research methodologies and related skills