Jacquie Lawing Ebert, GMMB

Samara Yudof, GMMB

Presented on May 11, 2012

Communications Implications from Education Opinion Research

Research

• Common Core Standards Research (November to December 2009)

• Hart Research Associates (Quantitative /Qualitative)

• Effective Teaching Research (Summer 2010, Fall 2011) • The Winston Group (Quantitative and Qualitative)

• Common Core Tools Opinion Research (December 2010)• Hart Research Associates (Quantitative and Qualitative)

• Communities of Color Opinion Research (May to July 2011)• Hart Research Associates (Quantitative and Qualitative)

• Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on America’s Schools (2011)

• Harris Interactive (Quantitative /Qualitative2

What We Know

Public opinion and research messaging informs communications when building public support and political will.1. Words matter: Don’t assume we know how people

hear what we say2. Understand your audiences: Engage people in real

ways and through effective messengers3. Audiences are smart: Messaging is only as strong as

the work it supports4. Perspective is relevant: Include references to the

issues that matter to your audiences even if only related to your work

5. Goals in sight: Always link to student success and outcomes for everyone

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General Environment: Time is Now

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89%

Believe that “the quality of the American education system significantly impacts the American economy.”

*The Winston Group, 2011

Public Opinion on Our Country’s Education System

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*The Winston Group, 2011

Frame the reform work – core standards, tools, effective teaching – thru the lens of today’s economy

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Connect the work – core standards, effective teaching, practice and supports – to the broader vision for student success

“For the past 30 years we’ve tried many different ways to restructure our educational system – trying big schools

and little schools, charters and vouchers – that, for years, skirted the core issue: the relationship between a

teacher and a student.”- David Brooks

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Effective Teaching

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Effective Teaching: Key Takeaways

• Teacher evaluation is not working well today.• Most teachers will accept testing as an

acceptable measure of effectiveness IF and WHEN it is one of multiple measures.

• Effective teaching work should be framed as diagnostic tools to help all teachers get better, not as a means to sort teachers.

• Teachers view their profession as a calling, not just a career.

• Acknowledge the importance of parenting.

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*The Winston Group, 2011

Effective Teaching: Key Takeaways

• Many stakeholders are fatigued with reforms and their support of effective teaching reforms depends on their belief that they are sustainable.

• Be clear about the intent of the effective teaching work: frame it to improve the quality of teaching through diagnostic tools/efforts to help all teachers get better, not as a means to sort teachers.

• Ultimately, the goal of fostering better teaching depends on the idea of enabling better student outcomes.

• In all cases, the work must truly reflect what we are communicating.10

*The Winston Group, 2011

Effective Teaching: Message Frames that Work

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Effective teaching reforms will ensure that teachers receive the feedback and support necessary to

improve.Effective teaching can be properly evaluated by several

factors, grounded in research, including peer evaluation, classroom observation, and student test

scores.Unions/Teachers should help lead the way in

rethinking the way schools recruit, develop, retain and reward teachers.

Most teachers seek ways to be evaluated and improve over time so they can help all students

learn.

Common Core State Standards

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39%90%

of the public and

of teachers are aware of the Common Core State Standards.

*The Winston Group, 2011

Common Core: Message Frames that Work

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Don’t oversell common standards as a panacea for improving education.

Stress that the CCSS set clear, shared expectations for students, parents, and teachers.

Inform people that these standards incorporate the best of the current state standards

Underline the idea that the standards establish what students need to learn, but allow states, districts, schools

and teachers to decide how best to help students reach the standards—common core state standards do not mandate

a single curriculum.Demonstrate commitment to providing schools and educators with the resources and support they will

need to implement the standards successfully.

*Hart Research, 2011

Key Audiences

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Principals and Superintendents

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Principals and Superintendents: Key Takeaways• Principals are a good bridge between district

communications and teachers.• Almost all superintendents and education leaders

feel favorably toward widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards.

• Seven in 10 principals and superintendents expect the adoption of the Common Core State Standards to have a great deal or fair amount of impact on how teachers will teach, compared with only half of teachers.

• The big concern for superintendents and also education leaders is implementation.

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*The Winston Group, 2011**Hart Research, 2011

Principals and Superintendents: Key Takeaways

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has piloted a set of easy-to-use materials and

research-based resources to help teachers teach reading, writing, and math more powerfully in middle and high school. The materials give all subject matter

teachers, including science, history, and social studies teachers, the flexibility to

personalize and tailor learning so that every student can master the new required content for English language arts and math. The instructional tools developed under this effort are, in essence, a set of lessons and strategies that teachers can

either adopt wholesale or adapt as needed. They are built around lessons

and exercises aligned to the new standards, and are intended to be integrated by

the teacher into the existing curriculum. Utilizing best-in-practice instructional design with flexibility built in, the materials were developed for a two-pronged approach:

•To help busy teachers differentiate instruction and teach

students with different levels of understanding, and •To enable teachers to be creative in how they help students master the content.

These research-based materials will be available to teachers for free. *Hart Research, 2011

Teachers

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Teachers: Key Takeaways

• Many teachers view their profession as a calling—and so it is no surprise that more money is not the solution for teachers.

• Teachers are open to being evaluated and held accountable for results as long as they are reliable and include multiple evaluation measures, not just test scores.

• Teachers are not afraid of feedback and, in fact, tell us that they welcome it. Teachers want to understand how they’re performing in the classroom – what’s working and what isn’t.

• Tenure doesn’t make a good teacher. • Only 10 percent of teachers say that tenure is a very accurate measure

of teacher performance while 42 percent say it is not at all accurate. 20

*Scholastic, 2011

Teachers: Key Takeaways• Textbooks aren’t the answer. 

• Teachers overwhelmingly say (81%) that up-to-date information-based technology is very important or absolutely essential to improve student achievement.

• A teacher’s job doesn’t end at 3 p.m. • Seven in 10 teachers attend students’ after school and

weekend events.

• To reach teachers, talk to and empower principals as messengers.

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Teachers: Technology• Teachers overwhelmingly believe that technology is a

good tool to supplement classroom teaching and school culture and peer-endorsement drives acceptance by teachers of technology.

• Access to technology tools and training are by far the biggest barrier that influences a teacher’s decision to use technology in the classroom, but a general sense of education reform fatigue also appears to impact teacher attitudes about using technology tools.

• Teachers say that in order for education technology tools to be effective, developers must do a better job of understanding and respecting the reality that teachers face:

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• Personalize instruction

• Strong student assessment

component

• Engage students

• Practical ways to incorporate

instruction

• Free teachers’ time and energy

Engaged Public

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Engaged Public: Key Takeaways

• The majority of the engaged public (65%) has a favorable view of education reform.

• For the public, the ultimate focus and outcome is not about the teachers themselves, but rather about the students and how improvements in teaching create improvements in student success.

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*Winston, 2011

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Nearly 80% of public school parents give their neighborhood school a grade of A or B.

However, when asked about public education in general, only 17% of parents gave schools these top grades. *Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup, 2011

Engaged Public: Message Frames That Work

To reach the public, make sure to reach teachers.

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Communities of Color

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Communities of Color: Key Takeaways• African American and Latino parents believe the

schools in their communities are inadequate. • When parents and caregivers think about the kinds of schools

that need reform and improvement, the majority think of schools in their communities. 68% of African-American and 70% of Hispanic low- and moderate-income and parents and caregivers believe this.

• There is strong agreement among both groups of parents that all children, regardless of background, should be expected to achieve academic standards that reflect readiness for college and career. • Among African-Americans there is broad consensus (61%) that

higher standards without sufficient resources for schools in poor neighborhoods would set up more children for failure.

• Among Hispanics, 48% emphasize the potential for higher standards to lift up students of color.

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*Hart Research, 2011

Communities of Color: Message Frames That Work

• Connect the work in clear ways to success, in particular success in college, rather than to open-ended terms like “higher expectations.” • Low- and moderate-income African-Americans and Hispanics put

a very high premium on having their children attend and graduate college—with a significant focus on graduation from a four-year college.

• Both groups of parents place the responsibility squarely on parents and caregivers of ensuring their child and children in their communities are well educated.

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*Hart Research, 2011

Communities of Color:How to Reach Them

For communities of color, parent and community organizations are the most trusted source of advice

about education reform.

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*Hart Research, 2011

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Evaluation

Evaluating Effectiveness(National Public)

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It is possible to tell the difference between an effective and an ineffective teacher by looking at things like their performance in the classroom and their students’ progress on test scores.

55%42%

2010

44%53%

2011

It is not possible to tell the difference between an effective and an ineffective teacher because so many factors beyond a teacher’s control impact how students behave in class and perform on tests.

*The Winston Group, 2010 & 2011

Discussion