NEW NATIONAL EDUCATION POLL: Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose Closing Schools Based on High-Stakes, Standardized Testing

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Nov 30, 2016, 12:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new national survey of likely general election voters finds overwhelming opposition to closing local schools based primarily on the results of high-stakes, standardized test scores. Additionally, voters believe that all public schools, whether charter schools or traditional brick and mortar schools, should be held to the same accountability and closure standards. The nationwide survey was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates in November and analyzes voter attitudes about standardized testing and school closure.

"Republicans and Democrats are united in their agreement that public schools should not be closed based primarily on standardized test scores," said Stuart Polk, vice-president at McLaughlin & Associates. "Voters don't consider standardized tests the best method to measure school and student performance. They want school evaluation systems that focus more on individual student measurements instead of aggregated standardized test scores for the entire school."

According to a November 18-21, 2016 McLaughlin & Associates poll:

Overwhelmingly, 78% of voters oppose closing public schools based primarily on standardized test scores
Just 16% of voters consider standardized test scores to be a good measure of school quality, while 14% consider it a good indicator of student success
73% of voters favor evaluation systems that measure how well a school helps individual students improve year to year, versus average standardized test scores
By a nearly 3 to 1 ratio, voters favor evaluating schools using a dashboard-like system which uses multiple measurements to assess quality and performance versus a single A to F letter grade
Only 3% think closing low performing schools is the most important education issue
91% believe a formal public hearing should be required before a school closes so parents can discuss the impact; 61% strongly agree
86% believe all public schools, whether charter or traditional brick and mortars, should be held to the same accountability and closure standards
86% believe students should not be forced to leave their school just because other students are under-performing
83% to 11%, voters prefer to keep struggling schools open to help them improve versus closing them

As the Trump administration considers education policy and state legislatures convene in January, this survey highlights for policy makers and elected officials the need for student-centered accountability systems - rather than over reliance on aggregated standardized test scores - to measure school and student success.

STATEMENT FROM TILLIE ELVRUM, PRESIDENT OF PUBLICSCHOOLOPTIONS.ORG:
"School accountability is very important, but it must be done in a way that focuses on individual students and less on school-wide average test scores. Simply looking at high-stakes, standardized test scores to determine school or student success isn't reliable. We need policy makers and education leaders to develop better accountability measures that don't punish students and erode parent choice by closing schools based solely on high-stakes, standardized tests."

Click HERE to view the executive summary
Click HERE to view the survey deck
Click HERE to view the infographic

Poll Methodology: McLaughlin & Associates completed a national survey of 1,000 likely voters. The survey was conducted November 18-21, 2016 and has a margin of error of +/ 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.

PublicSchoolOptions.org is a national alliance of parents that supports and defends parents' rights to access the best public school options for their children. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, we advocate for equal access without restrictions to these public schools for all children.

To view the release online click HERE

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SOURCE PublicSchoolOptions.org