January 2000
Public Knows Features
That Make a Quality School
The Top 10 list, the mandatory device of movie critics in year-end reviews,
provides a straightforward picture of what the list's producer most highly
prizes. Recently, the American public was given a chance to produce a
Top 10 list of features most prized when it comes to education. The straightforward
results are encouraging for private schools in general and for independent
schools in particular.
 In
a poll commissioned by the National Association of Independent Schools,
751 randomly-selected adults were asked to rate 25 school characteristics
in terms of their significance for quality education. Respondents were
then asked whether public schools or independent schools do a better job
delivering each of the characteristics. The poll found that the 10 features
the public thinks most important for successful schooling range from employing
high quality teachers (#1) to providing adequate tools for learning (#10).
Significantly, for all but 2 of the 10 items, respondents put independent
schools well ahead of public schools (see chart). By a margin of 2 to
1, the public believes independent schools do a better job employing high
quality teachers and preventing drug and alcohol use, the traits that
rank, respectively, 1 and 2. And for the traits that rank 3 through 6
(keeping students motivated and enthusiastic about learning, challenging
students to do their best, encouraging parents to participate in their
child's education, and maintaining discipline), the independent school
advantage ranges from 3 to 1 to nearly 6 to 1.
Differences: Clear and Many
According to the project summary released by NAIS, one purpose of the
poll was "to gauge the public's perceptions of independent schools'
strengths and weaknesses compared to public schools." The study discovered
that differences in how the public views the two sectors are "clear
and many." One prominent example: 66 percent of respondents think
independent schools do a better job encouraging moral and spiritual development,
while 9 percent think public schools do better. Other areas where a majority
of the public believes independent schools have the advantage are these:
keeping class size smaller (69 percent think independent schools do better,
10 percent think public schools), giving individual attention to each
child (65-10), teaching values and manners (64-9), maintaining discipline
(63-11), and maintaining bonds with graduates (55-13). As the report put
it, the public regards independent schools as "most different in
offering a more personalized, customized education, and an environment
that is civil and controlled."
But independent schools do not have the edge in every area. The two features
where a majority of the public assigns the advantage to public schools
are involving students in athletics and sports (53 percent say public
schools do better, and 15 percent say independent schools) and drawing
students from a range of cultures, races and income groups (56-18). Commenting
on these particular findings, Dr. Peter Relic, president of NAIS, said,
"I am concerned about the public misperceptions regarding participation
in athletics and sports and about diversity in independent schools."
He added, "Often independent schools are more diverse than neighboring
public schools, because the independent schools reach out to the entire
community whereas public school population is often determined strictly
be geographic boundaries." NAIS reports that students of color account
for 17.8 percent of the enrollment in its member schools.
In another section of the survey, participants were asked how well certain
words describe independent schools. The adjectives the public most strongly
associates with such schools are structured, safe, selective, personalized,
caring, responsive, rigorous, and comfortable.
The positive associations may help explain why such a large share of
adults would like their children to attend independent schools. When asked
where they would choose to send their children to school if cost and school
proximity were not factors, 58 percent said independent or parochial schools
and 39 percent said public schools.
Specifically, 30 percent of those polled said they would choose independent
schools, a response the report's authors called "profound" because
independent schools currently serve only about 1 percent of K-12 students
in the United States. NAIS reports that its member schools account for
1,025 of the 27,700 private schools in the country and 473,000 of the
5,927,000 private school students.
The project summary of The 1999 National Public Opinion Poll on Perceptions
of Independent Schools is available on the NAIS
Web site.
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NCES Report
Provides Data on First-Time Teachers
With school administrators across the country worrying whether they'll
find enough qualified teachers to fill next September's vacancies, a new
report will at least help them learn a lot about a significant share of
the teacher supply: first-time teachers. Progress Through the Teacher
Pipeline, released last month by the National Center for Education
Statistics, tracks the demographic characteristics and academic preparation
of 1992-93 college graduates as they wind their way from diploma to first
teaching job. The report provides a comprehensive look at what graduates
become teachers, the qualities they bring to their work, how they are
prepared, where they wind up teaching, and whether or not they stay.
For officials in private schools as well as public schools, the study
should prove particularly valuable because it segregates data for the
proportions of graduates who enter the profession through positions in
either sector. As might be expected, the differences between first-time
teachers in public schools and private schools are significant in some
areas, but not so in others.
The Cohort
The study looks at college students who received their bachelor's degree
in 1992-93 and who had not taught prior to that time. Graduates were interviewed
in 1994 and again in 1997. Some in the cohort never became teachers by
1997, but of those who did, 13.1 percent taught exclusively in private
schools, 83.2 percent taught exclusively in public schools, and 3.8 percent
taught at one point or another in both sectors.
Academic Background
According to the report, graduates with higher college entrance examination
scores were more likely to teach in private schools. Although private
schools attracted 13 percent of first-time teachers overall, they drew
26 percent of the teachers who had college entrance examination (CEE)
scores in the top quartile. Looking at the data from another angle, 38
percent of the private school group had CEE scores in the top quartile,
compared to 18 percent of the public school cohort. The ability of private
schools to attract teachers who were higher-achieving college students
was also reflected in SAT scores. The average composite score of those
who taught in private schools was 1136, 100 points higher than those who
taught in public schools.
Private schools, more than public schools, were inclined to hire graduates
from private colleges and were disinclined to hire education majors. Nearly
half (46 percent) of 1992-93 degree recipients who taught in private schools
came from private postsecondary institutions, while only 22 percent of
those who taught in public schools did so. Education majors accounted
for 57 percent of public school teachers but only 46 percent of private
school teachers. Just over half of fist-time teachers in the private sector
were students who had majored in the humanities, math, natural sciences,
or the social sciences.
Consistent with the lower share of education majors, private schools
also had a lower share of state-certified teachers. Fifty-four percent
of the cohort who taught in private schools were certified, compared to
88 percent of the public school group. But the private school teachers
were hardly without high goals for professional development. Twenty-seven
percent of the private school teachers expected to attain a doctoral degree
or first-professional degree (e.g., in medicine or law) at some point
in the future. The comparable figure for public school teachers was 19
percent.
Workload and Salary
Private school teachers had about the same workload as public school
teachers but, probably to no one's surprise, were paid significantly less.
Teachers responsible for general elementary classes taught an average
of 30.7 students in public schools and 26.7 in private schools. For teachers
responsible for single-subject classes, the average total number of students
was 101.6 in public schools and 103.8 in private schools. Single-subject
public school teachers taught an average of 5.8 periods a day, compared
to 5.0 periods for their counterparts in private schools.
But while workload was comparable, salaries were not. Specifically, private
school teachers earned an average annual salary of $21,327, while public
school teachers earned $26,319, nearly one-fourth more.
Job Satisfaction
Despite their lower salaries, private school teachers typically were
more satisfied with their jobs than their colleagues in public schools.
In fact, on all six aspects of job satisfaction examined in the study,
substantially higher percentages of private school teachers reported they
were "very satisfied" (see chart, page 2). Further, 42 percent
of private school teachers, but only 23 percent of public school teachers,
said they were "quite satisfied overall" during their most recent
semester of teaching.
Stayers and Leavers
Given the higher levels of job satisfaction, one might expect the teachers
in private schools to stay put longer. But that isn't the case. According
to the report:
- Forty-one percent of 1992-93 graduates who had taught in private schools
after graduation had left teaching by the spring of 1997. By contrast,
only 16 percent of the comparable cohort in public schools had done
so.
- Only 25 percent of 1992-93 graduates who had always taught in private
schools said they expected to be teaching full time in three years,
whereas more than twice that number (56 percent) of public school teachers
said the same thing.
The findings suggest that private schools will probably have to deal
with replacement rates higher than public schools.
Teachers who had first taught and had then left teaching between their
1992-93 degree and 1997 were asked to identify the primary reason they
had chosen to leave. For the 41 percent who had left private education,
the reasons included pregnancy/child rearing (17.5 percent), pursuit of
a career outside education (28.5 percent), coursework to continue career
in education (9.3 percent), dislike or dissatisfaction with teaching (12.2
percent), other (25.1 percent). Notably, only 3.2 percent cited dissatisfaction
with salary and benefits as their primary reason for leaving.
Click
Here to read the NCES report entitled Progress Through the Teacher
Pipeline.
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Court Watch:
Judge Disallows Scholarship Program
 U.S.
District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. last month turned his temporary order
banning the Cleveland scholarship program into a permanent one, ruling
that the program runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Soon after the decision was announced, school choice advocates vowed an
appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and, if need
be, to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The kids deserve more than a lump
of coal five days before Christmas," said Clint Bolick, litigation
director for the Institute for Justice, which represents parents of children
receiving the scholarships. Students will be able to continue in the program
during the Sixth Circuit review.
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CAPENotes
• Democratic presidential hopefuls Al Gore and Bill
Bradley had plenty to say about vouchers last month. In a debate on
Meet the Press, the candidates sparred over Bradley's willingness
to consider vouchers if the current experiments in Cleveland and Milwaukee
show they improve public education. The Vice President repeated his unequivocal
opposition to vouchers, claiming they would drain money away from public
schools. He drew a sharp distinction between himself and Bradley on the
issue saying, "Every time the Republicans proposed vouchers for 18
years, Senator Bradley supported it; every time the Republicans proposed
vouchers when I was in the Congress, I opposed them." On a different
school choice issue, Bradley said he opposed tuition tax credits because
he doesn't think "tax cuts should be gummed up with a lot of credits."
He said he prefers a tax system "with lower rates and fewer loopholes."
Two days after the Meet the Press appearance, Bradley "mounted
an aggressive defense" of his willingness to try vouchers, according
to Washington Post reporter Mike Allen. In a campaign appearance
in Des Moines, Bradley said, "I believe that every child deserves
a quality education, not just the children of parents who are wealthy."
He added that "honest leadership should be willing to try new and
innovative ways to achieve this end."
• Teachers in public or private schools are now eligible to purchase
single-family homes at half price through a new program sponsored by the
Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD). The Teacher Next Door
(TND) program is designed to encourage teachers to move into designated
revitalization areas, described by HUD as low- and moderate-income neighborhoods
that have many vacant properties and high crime rates, but are regarded
as "good candidates for economic development and improvement."
The HUD-owned homes are available for a downpayment as low as $100 if
purchased with a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
Teachers must be state certified and must agree to live in the house as
their sole residence for a minimum of three years. The program, says HUD,
is a way of recognizing teachers "for the value they bring to community
and family life."
For more information, call 1-800-217-6970 or visit HUD's
Web site.
• Saying that children involved in religious activities are less
likely to use drugs and more likely to stay out of trouble, President
Clinton last month announced the release of a set of guidelines to
help public school teachers "teach about religions" and to
"I have never believed the Constitution required our schools to
be religion-free zones, " said the president. "Common sense
says that faith and faith-based organizations from all religious backgrounds
can play an important role in helping children to reach their fullest
potential."
Education Secretary Richard Riley said the guidelines were developed
to inform communities "about the proper way to treat religion and
religious topics in our nation's public schools."
The guidelines are available on the U.S. Department of Education's Web
site.
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