Lorain County K-12 Educational Microsurvey

January 2014 Result Summary

SURVEY METHOD

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Telephone survey of 620 registered voters in Lorain County

Fielded for 3 days between January 17-20th

Purpose to gauge perceptions of educational achievement, new initiatives and statewide legislation

Stratified by school district geography

Not all results add to 100% due to rounding of decimals

RESPONDENT BREAKDOWN

19% have a child in public school

76.5% do not have school aged children

2.9% have a child in private school

1.3% have a child in online or charter schools

0.3% home school their child(ren)

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4

A B C D F

19.7%

40.3%

29.7%

7.7%

2.6%

What letter grade would you give your school district?

Most respondents (80%) believe their school district is doing an excellent or good job of preparing students for their futures. With most giving a “B” grade.

However, only 1/5 believe that education is improving and most believe it is getting worse.

5

Don't know Getting Better Staying the Same Getting Worse

15.6%

21.1%

29.4%

33.9%

How is K-12 Public Education Changing?

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Teachers are the most important indicators of a high quality education. Followed by students being prepared for their futures and schools offering a comprehensive curriculum.

Sports & XC ac-tivities

State Ratings Other Focusing on technology skills

Comp. curric. Stu. Prep for Post HS Life

High quality teachers

1.1%3.2% 3.7%

8.6%

21.7%

24.9%

36.7%

Best Indicator

Respondents do not place much stock in the state ratings. State ratings and extracurricular offerings were noted to be the least important when determining a high quality education.

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High qu

ality t

eache

rs

Comp.

curri

c.

Focus

ing on

tech

nolog

y skil

ls

Stu Prep

. For

Post H

S LifeOthe

r

State Rati

ngs

Sports

& X

C activ

ities

1.9%3.4% 4.7% 5.8% 6.7%

33.3%

44.2%

Least Important Indicator

Most do not trust state testing mechanisms or motives. But do support the third grade guarantee.

61% do not believe increased state testing has helped students.

67% disagree that policy decisions made at the state level are in the best interests of our students.

80% disagree that there should be more state government control over our local schools.

69% state that students scores from one test should not be used to evaluate teachers.

70% agree that students, teachers and schools should be rated on student grades, parental engagement and graduate success, along with test scores.

Interestingly, 65% support retaining 3rd graders that do not pass state reading tests.

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There is overwhelming support for pre-school programs to help students perform better (76%)…

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Strongly Disagree, 4.4%

Strongly Agree, 28.2%Disagree, 18.9%

Agree, 48.5%

Preschool programs help students perform bet -ter

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0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Strongly Disagree, 14.2% Strongly Agree, 16.5%

Disagree, 30.6%

Agree, 38.7%

I would support taxes for a preschool program

…but they were split on increased taxes to support pre-k programming.

61% disagree that locally approved tax dollars should support for profit and online charter schools.

70% agree that those that choose private schools should do so at their own expense.

32% identified finances as the most significant issue that school districts face. It rated 8 points higher than parental involvement or discipline and safety!

This information, coupled with the findings regarding state testing, indicate that voters believe in local control and appropriate funding of their schools.

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Respondents believe their local tax dollars should support public K-12 education, not “for profit” organizations.

CONCLUSIONS

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Our local schools are succeeding in providing high quality education with dedicated and skilled teachers.

The state continues to change school criteria and mandates, without additional funding.

It is important for all of us to support local K-12 education as we work to prepare students for their futures (and ours).

Currently, local tax dollars for schools do support charter, for profit and parochial schools.

Some schools in our region are suffering, reducing class offerings, letting students out early, providing only the minimums, etc.

If something is not done soon, our schools will collectively reach a critical point.

NEXT STEPS

We will focus public attention on the need to support K-12 education by using the following methods in a planned, consistent format:

Small group meetings with teachers and staff

One-on-one meetings with elected officials, non profit heads and other civic leaders. Begin locally, then spread regionally.

Individual meetings and phone calls with partners from other public educational institutions (JVS, LCCC, etc).

Small group conversations with educational advocates (PTAs, PTOs, Boosters, Foundations, etc).

Community forums, by school district, with residents.

Communication must be two-way. We want your solutions and suggestions as we move forward

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Discussion

• Is there anything in the survey that surprises you?

• Generally, does it reflect your view of education in Lorain County and/or our district?

• What is one big “takeaway” you got from the survey?

• If you were a district superintendent, how would you respond to what the community is telling us?

• Looking from a county-wide perspective, what should be our focus? Next steps?

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